PORTSMOUTH, Ohio -- It's always satisfying to see a team control the early portion of any match that it competes in when said group is in front of its home crowd.

It's also satisfying to see that same team fight through adversity and close out a match victory when the visiting squad fights back.

The volleyball program at Shawnee State did those very things in a Saturday afternoon River States Conference matchup that was held in Waller Gymnasium in Portsmouth, as the Bears ultimately hit .257 as a team, posted 78 digs to Indiana-Columbus' 62 and got new career-high totals in one category each from Camille McIntosh, Makaela Lovely, Ava Jenkins and Allison Pittman in the Bears' 3-1 victory (25-7, 25-16, 23-25, 25-22) over the Crimson Pride to move to 11-9 overall and even its record at 4-4 in the RSC.

Tale of the Tape

Shawnee State, who was strong on the attack from the get-go, hit .458 with 12 kills and one attack error in 24 attempts in the opening set of play, then followed that up by nabbing a .324 hitting percentage while collecting 15 kills and committing only four attack errors in 34 attempts in the second set to set the tone for the match.

McIntosh, a promising freshman frontline player who oozes potential, finished with a career-high 14 kills on excellent efficiency, hitting .407 as the Urbana, Ohio native committed just three attack errors in 27 attempts. Lovely, who saw extended action at the setting position, posted a career-high 41 assists and added in 15 digs to post her second straight double-double and the third of her career -- all while also notching four kills and hitting .444 on the attack -- while Jenkins added in a new career-high with six service aces as the junior, along with fellow junior Allison Pittman and sophomore Marleigh Albert, were among the standouts from the service line in Saturday's victory. Jenkins also added in 15 digs and now sits at 920 dives for her Shawnee State career, and Pittman, a native of Royce City, Texas, finished with 10 digs -- a career-high for the junior transfer that came without a reception error.

Defensively, Shawnee State held Indiana-Columbus to a .093 attack percentage for the match. The Crimson Pride hit -.161, .135 and .081 in the first, second and fourth sets as the Bears' defensive intensity remained consistent through much of the afternoon's proceedings.

Set Highlights

From the outset, the volleyball program began the contest by rolling over Indiana-Columbus in a rather dominant fashion as Haidyn Wamsley set her time being a terrorizing force on the frontline. Over the opening 25 volleys of action alone, Wamsley posted four solo blocks and three kills to ice the Crimson Pride hitting attack early. Her play, along with nine consecutive points served out by Pittman, and five consecutive points served out by Albert in the opening set of play, allowed Shawnee State to breeze to a 25-7 opening set victory.

After an early back-and-forth with Indiana-Columbus in the second set of action, Shawnee State took control again -- as Gifford, McIntosh and Wamsley each claimed three kills to help Shawnee State post an 11-8 advantage. Jenkins then got cooking from the service line  -- and proceeded to nab three service aces over a four-volley stretch to help the Bears go on an 8-0 run in the second frame of action. Whytney Faulkner's three kills over the second half of the second set allowed the Bears to again close things out in a comfortable fashion -- as Shawnee State took a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-16 triumph.

However, despite the 2-0 deficit -- and trailing 18-11 at one point in the third set as well after two additional aces from Jenkins -- Indiana-Columbus showed resolve by rallying back, as the Crimson Pride went on a 14-5 third-set run and held SSU to a .130 attack percentage while hitting .239 in the third frame to claim a 25-23 third-set win.

Shawnee State came back and matched that resolve, though.

In the fourth set of action, McIntosh came up large right away as the freshman nabbed four kills over the first 14 volleys of the fourth set while Camille Hall came in and played a major role with two kills herself as Shawnee State took a 10-4 fourth-set advantage. Again, Indiana-Columbus didn't quit -- and went on a 16-10 run to tie the fourth set at 20 apiece.

With the match potentially hanging in the balance, the Bears shut the door for good -- as McIntosh and Kylee Gifford combined for a block to give the Bears a brief 21-20 lead -- then Maelynn Howell added two kills during a 4-1 set-ending spurt to close the match out appropriately, with her final kill coming off of a Lovely pass to give Shawnee State the 25-22 fourth set victory as well as the match triumph.

Additional

In addition to the efforts of McIntosh, Lovely and Jenkins, Whytney Faulkner posted 12 kills to go along with seven digs, while Haidyn Wamsley nabbed 11 kills on a .320 attack percentage to go along with five solo blocks. Kylee Gifford and Maelynn Howell combined for 13 kills and four blocks -- including three of the solo variety -- to aid Shawnee State along.

Megan Steele also added in 14 digs defensively for the Bears.

Shawnee State will take on Oakland City (Ind.) Friday evening in a contest that will serve as the Bears' Pink Out match as part of paying homage to Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The River States Conference bout will begin at 6 p.m. Friday, and T-shirts for the match are available to buy until Sunday evening, Oct. 20 at https://www.shawneestatealumni.com/spirit-shop/shawnee-state-volleyball-pink-out-shirt.