KOKOMO, Ind. — The Tigers sought two rebound performances in their final day at the 2023 Indiana University-Kokomo Volleyball Invitational, taking on the Cornerstone (Mich.) Golden Eagles and then the host institution (RV) IU-Kokomo Cougars. Despite playing with a greater cohesion than matches prior, Campbellsville emerged still winless on the season.
GAME ONE: Campbellsville 1, Cornerstone 3
Campbellsville came out with conviction, busting out early to an 8-4 advantage behind kills from
Morgan Furness,
Molly Shannon (in her first appearance of the year), and a few service aces from
Taylor Thacker. However, Cornerstone rallied and increased their effectiveness by going on their own spree to take the lead. When the Golden Eagles ended the set at 25-22, they were hitting a staggering .593 to the Tigers' typically impressive .364.
The Tigers responded with tremendous defensive effort in the second set, limiting the Golden Eagles to just a .118 hitting percentage and only 20 points. Campbellsville forced Cornerstone into ten attack errors, including tallying five blocks. At that point,
Cierra Merrick led the way with eight kills,
Brooke Hager had three blocks, and both Camyrn Rich and Furness were killing at a .500 rate.
Following their 25-20 second frame win, the Tigers had to meet increased intensity from the Golden Eagles. Both teams were equitable until Cornerstone went on a five-point run near the end of the set to make things 22-16 in their favor. Campbellsville was struggling with errors which doomed their efforts to get back into things before it ended 25-17.
The fourth frame had the Golden Eagles sprint out to a 10-5 lead behind devastating hitting accuracy. Like the first set, the Tigers were holding their own in kill efficiency but were lagging in comparison. If they were to force a deciding frame, they would have to get more out of their defense. And that's exactly what happened as the match knotted up at 14's. At 22-20 in favor of Cornerstone, a Campbellsville error forced a timeout. The Tigers logged only one more point as the match ended 25-21 for the Golden Eagles.
Merrick ended with 14 kills while Shannon had 13 in her season-debut. They also led in digs 11 and ten, respectively.
GAME TWO: Campbellsville 1, IU-Kokomo 3
Determined to notch their first victory of the 2023 season, Campbellsville came out hot versus the IU-Kokomo. With the score at 10-5, the Tigers were hitting .533 compared to the Cougars' .235. Hugely, Campbellsville did not have a single error at that point. At 15-8, Rich had already logged eight assists while Shannon had five kills, connecting on them at a huge .833 percentage. That seven-point buffer was their largest of the year thus far. The key difference in the Tigers' statement 25-15 set was their defense; Merrick had eight digs and the team's six block assists.
Campbellsville were the ones that suffered from errors as the second set reached its midway point. At 16-9 in IU-Kokomo's favor, the frame was quite the inverse to the first. A negative kill rate and 11 errors hurt the Tigers' offense as did the Cougars' five blocks. Set two ended with IU-Kokomo ahead 25-17.
The third frame had Campbellsville up 11-6 before IU-Kokomo took control and went 16-11 to get the game tied up at 22's. Both teams' defenses showed up to show out. Balls were dug up left and right, and errors were not so instrumental as they were before. Still, the Cougars managed to eke out a win with their 25-23 third set.
Each teams' attack came out gunning in the fourth frame. The hitting percentages were near-equal around .250 at 15-14 for IU-Kokomo. Campbellsville rattled off three kills in a row to tie it at 18. From that point, the Cougars went on a 4-0 spree behind two Tigers errors and a couple of successful attacks. The match ended with a 25-23 IU-Kokomo set victory.
The team stats for both squads were virtually identical save for attack attempts, which favored the Cougars 159-140.
Campbellsville will still be looking for their first win of the 2023 season when they host a Labor Day tournament for their first contests at home. Friday, September 1
st they will take on Life University at 3 p.m. ET and then Marian University (Ind.) at 7 p.m. ET.
