SSU clinches second straight winning season, third in four years with straight-set victory over Midway (25-19, 25-18, 25-19)

PORTSMOUTH, Ohio -- Taking care of business in straight set fashion at home is always sweet.

Clinching another winning season is even sweeter.

For the second straight season and for the third time in four years, the volleyball program at Shawnee State has clinched a winning record -- as the Bears hit a rock-solid .246 on the attack as a team and were terrific defensively, outdigging the Midway Eagles' volleyball program by a massive 74-55 count as SSU took home a straight-set triumph over Midway (25-19, 25-18, 25-19) Tuesday evening at Waller Gymnasium in Portsmouth.

The Rundown

Shawnee State (15-12, 8-7 River States Conference) had three players hit .348 or better on at least 20 or more attack attempts and three additional players post at least 13 or more digs in the straight-set triumph. The Bears closed the first, second and third sets on 4-2, 6-1 and 3-1 spurts to claim the match over Midway (11-15, 6-8 River States Conference), and moved to 8-2 overall inside Waller Gymnasium for the 2024 season.

In the opening set, the Bears, who trailed 13-11 through the opening 24 volleys of the first set, took control as one kill each from Kylee Gifford and Camille McIntosh, a solo block by Maelynn Howell and a service ace from Whytney Faulkner allowed Shawnee State to go on a 8-1 run, giving the Bears a 19-14 advantage.

Midway closed slightly to within 23-19, but got no closer over the rest of the first set as three kills by McIntosh late in the opening set, along with one kill each from Howell and Faulkner, allowed Shawnee State to claim a 25-19 opening set triumph.

Down 4-2 in the second set, a 4-0 run by Shawnee State allowed the Bears to take a 6-4 advantage as a pair of kills by Faulkner, along with one kill each from Howell and Gifford, set up the spurt.

When Midway answered to take a 12-9 advantage, Shawnee State stormed back, going on a 10-3 run to take a 19-15 lead as Gifford sprayed four kills to the Waller Gymnasium four during SSU's rally while McIntosh added in two spikes and Faulkner and Wamsley one each.

The Eagles then scored the next two tallies to close within 19-17, but Shawnee State closed out the match by going on a 6-1 run as a kill and a block by Wamsley and one kill each from McIntosh and Faulkner closed out a set-ending 6-1 spurt that allowed SSU to take a 25-18 second set victory and a 2-0 match lead.

Continuing its momentum from the second set of play, the Bears roared out of the gate as Gifford posted three kills over the first six volleys, while Wamsley posted a kill of her own and Megan Steele added in a service ace to help SSU claim a 5-1 advantage.

Midway came back to score six of the next seven points en route to taking leads of 6-5, 7-6, 8-7 and 9-8, but Shawnee State responded by ripping off a massive 7-0 run with the highlight being a Steele kill that came in an incredible play by the junior, who lofted a ball while sitting on the floor after hustling to keep the ball alive and scoring a huge point that greatly aided in igniting the run.

Up 15-9 at this point, Shawnee State never led by less than three volleys the rest of the third set -- and ultimately took the third set by a 25-19 margin en route to claiming the match.

Additional

For the match, Kylee Gifford's 13 kills on a .500 attack percentage led the Bears, while Camille McIntosh's 10 kills and .348 attack percentage and Haidyn Wamsley's nine kills and .364 attack percentage backed Gifford up. Whytney Faulkner also added in eight kills and posted 13 digs defensively to boot.

Makaela Lovely continued to thrive from a setting standpoint, as Lovely nabbed 38 assists and 16 digs, while Megan Steele's 19 digs from her libero position led the Shawnee State defense, as did Maelynn Howell's three solo blocks at the net.

Shawnee State will have an opportunity to clinch an above .500 mark in River States Conference play in what will be its final regular season contest Saturday afternoon -- a road bout at Alice Lloyd (Ky.). Game time is set for 12 p.m. in Pippa Passes, Ky.