MCKENZIE, Tenn. — The Tigers continued their play at Bethel University competing against the host institution Saturday afternoon. After going down two sets, Campbellsville clawed their way back into the deciding frame, securing the win 3-2.
Campbellsville sought to remain perfect in conference play and hand Bethel their second loss in the MSC after their five-set war against the Cumberland Phoenix a week earlier. Like the Tigers, the Wildcats sat at .500 overall headed into the match.
In the opening set, the Tigers came out with fervor but began to lose grip of the frame as it continued on. Campbellsville had the 17-14 advantage before Bethel rattled off four straight points to go ahead, bolstered by a couple of Tiger errors. From there, Campbellsville retook the lead twice, but another four consecutive points gave Bethel the win 25-22. A 15-10 score in the second set looked promising for the Tigers, and then a 21-15 seemed even more so, but yet again the Wildcats steeled themselves and put up 12 of the next 16 points to go up 2-0.
The next two sets were absolute battles. The Tigers tested their mettle and emerged from both with the hard-fought 30-28 wins. Campbellsville kept Bethel to just a .159 hitting percentage in the third frame, and then .164 in the fourth. The Tigers absolutely exploded in the extra frame, hitting a devastating .428 while limiting the Wildcats to a match-low .000 to take the comeback victory.
The Tigers forced Bethel into lower and lower kill percentages as the match continued on, going from .367 in the first frame to nil in the last. Campbellsville was clutch, limiting their errors to none in the final set while forcing Bethel into seven.
Molly Shannon led with 15 kills and
Hannah McGill was just behind her with 14.
Taylor Thacker (18 total),
Olivia Hellman (17), and
Camryn Rich (14) all were digging and pivotal to the mounting defensive effort as the match continued. Rich posted her 16th double-double of the season with her 48 assists and her tenth double-double in a row.
The Tigers come back home for their next matchup, taking on the Cumberland University Phoenix on Tuesday, October 3rd at 7 p.m. ET.
