Four Named NAIA Scholar-Athletes for Volleyball Volleyball - Fri, Nov. 30, 2012 NAIA Scholar-Athletes PORTSMOUTH – Four members of the Shawnee State volleyball team have been named NAIA Scholar- Athletes. Janine Grey, Holly Tobias, Hannah Gephart and Kirsti Yates were all honored with the academic award. This award comes on top of all four being named Academic All-MSC. To be eligible, a student-athlete must be in their junior year and have maintained a cumulative GPA of at least 3.5. Each of these four student-athletes are earning the award for the first time in their careers. Grey and Tobias are the two seniors to earn the award. Grey is majoring in Photography, while Tobias is majoring in exercise science. Two juniors, Gephart and Yates, also earned the award. Gephart is an exercise science major, while Yates is majoring in biology. Three Honored as All-MSC Selections for Volleyball Volleyball - Sun, Nov. 11, 2012 MSC Release PORTSMOUTH – Following a complete team turnaround that saw volleyball double its win total from 11 to 22 this season, three individuals were honored as All-MSC selections at the conference banquet. Alex Pohl and Kirsti Yates were named first-team All-MSC selections, while Paige Zelich earned honorable mention All-MSC honors. For Pohl, the honor was the first time she was selected to the first team after earning honorable mention accolades in each of her past two seasons. Shawnee State's all-time leading blocker finished with 385 blocks for her career. This broke the previous mark by 10. This past season, Pohl finished second on the team with 85 blocks, including a team- high 31 solo blocks. She also finished with the second-highest hitting percentage on the team (.294) and was third in digs (181). Yates' honor marks the second straight season that she has been named first-team All-MSC. The team's libero, she finished with 574 digs, which was the fourth-most in the conference. She also was second on the team in service aces (41) and helped assist on 53 kills, the third-best mark on the team. With her second career honor, the junior becomes just the third player in program history to be named first-team all-conference, joining Haley Halcomb and Heather Koehler. No player has ever been a three-time first-team all-conference selection in program history. Zelich, a sophomore, was named All-MSC for the first team in her career with the honorable mention nod. She finished the year with a team-best 247 kills. She also had a team-high 655 attacks on her way to a .247 hitting mark. In 12 different matches Zelich recorded double-digit kills, averaging 2.5 kills per game over the season. She was even better in conference, hitting over. 300 in seven of those matches and had a .265 hitting mark against MSC competition.

Five Named Academic All-MSC for Volleyball Volleyball - Fri, Nov. 9, 2012 MSC Release PORTSMOUTH – Five members of the Shawnee State volleyball team have been named Academic All-MSC. Janine Grey, Holly Tobias, Hannah Gephart, Kirsti Yates andAbbi Morrow were all honored with the academic award. To be eligible, a student-athlete must be in their sophomore year and have maintained a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25. Each of these five student-athletes are earning the award for the first time in their Shawnee State careers. Grey and Tobias are the two seniors to earn the award. Grey is majoring in Photography, while Tobias is majoring in exercise science. Two juniors, Gephart and Yates, also earned the award. Gephart is an exercise science major, while Yates is majoring in biology. The lone sophomore to earn the award, Morrow, is majoring in athletic training.

Volleyball Downed by Fourth-Seeded Campbellsville in MSC Quarterfinals Volleyball - Fri, Nov. 9, 2012 Box Score LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Volleyball saw its turnaround season come to a halt Friday afternoon in the Mid-South Tournament as the fifth-seeded Bears (22-13) were eliminated in the quarterfinals by fourth-seeded Campbellsville (25-9) in three games (25-18, 25-16, 25-20). Despite the loss, the Bears still finished the year with 22 wins. This marked an 11-win improvement from last season despite playing in two less matches. Shawnee State had its chances in each and every set but late rallies by Campbellsville proved to be the difference in each of the three sets. The Bears found themselves down 7-2 early in the opening game but battled back to 9-6. The Bears would inch a little closer but the Tigers would then go on a run stretching their lead to 20-12 before closing out the opening game. In that opening set, the Bears were held to a .235 hitting percentage. However,Devan Scarberry and Paige Zelich each picked up three kills in the opening game. However, SSU committed five attack errors and was called for three ball handling errors and one net infraction on a block attempt that they were not able to overcome. Campbellsville limited the Bears to just a .053 hitting mark in the second. In the middle game, the Bears killed 10 of their attack efforts, including three from Tiffany Jackson. However, eight attack errors would hamper their effort. Despite their struggles, the Bears were in the set at 10-9, but Campbellsville again closed the set strong. With their backs up against the walls, Shawnee State gave Campbellsville its best effort of the day in the final game, hitting .317 with 14 kills and just one attack error. The Bears had the score knotted at 15-all but the Tigers ran off six straight points before closing out the quarterfinal match. In that final set, Zelich killed five of her attempts with no errors, while three other players killed two attempts in the game. In the end, the Tigers were just slightly better, hitting .356 for the game and .314 for the match. In the final match of the year, Zelich finished with a team-high 10 kills in 17 attempts and did not commit an error on the afternoon. Jackson and Scarberry finished with seven and six kills, respectively. Alex Pohl and Kelsey Bielanow finished with five kills apiece in the match.Hannah Gephart tallied 17 assists for the match, while Carly Mazza finished with 14. Kirsti Yates finished with a match-high 19 digs, while Pohl came up with 10 more. Yates was also the only Bears' player to tally two service aces, as Mazza, Zelich and Scarberry each added one.

Volleyball Set to Play in the Mid-South Conference Tournament Volleyball - Wed, Nov. 7, 2012 PORTSMOUTH — A year removed from an opening round lost to the Georgetown Tigers, volleyball will look to dig themselves through a tough Mid-South Conference Tournament and return to the NAIA National Tournament since 2010. The Bears, who finished the season with a 22-12 overall record and 10-4 in the conference, earned the fifth seed and will play the fourth-seeded Campbellsville. The two teams met only once during the regular season in the Mid-South Crossover Weekend hosted by Shawnee State. The Tigers prevailed in three sets, besting the Bears 25-14, 25-21, 25-23. Georgetown, ranked 11th in the NAIA, received the No. 1 overall seed in the MSC Tournament after finishing the regular season 31-3 and 15-0 in the conference. The Tigers will take on Bluefield in the opening round as the Rams finished 16-21 overall and 4-10 in the conference. Lindsey Wilson drew the No. 2 overall seed in the MSC Tournament with a 25-12 overall record and finishing 12-3 in the conference. The Blue Raiders will take on the seventh-seeded St. Catharine. Finally, the third-seeded Rio Grande Red Storm will battle sixth-seeded University of Cumberlands in the opening round. Junior Kirsti Yates led the team in digs with 555 and averaged 4.7 per set for the Bears. Freshman Madison Smith helped Yates with 299 of her own, averaging 2.6 per set. Kelsey Bielanow led all Bears in blocks for the season with 99 total. Senior Alex Pohl, the school's all-time career leader, also chipped in with 84 blocks and 171 digs of her own. The Bears also witnessed two players, Paige Zelich and Ashley Galbraith, each finish with over 200 kills on the season, racking up 237 and 228, respectively. Pohl also finished with 191 kills on the season giving Shawnee State three players that averaged at least two kills per game. The Bears quarterfinal will against Campbellsville will be Friday, November 9 at 1:00 p.m. at the MidAmerican Sports Center in Louisville, Ky.

Volleyball Sweeps Bluefield in Regular Season Finale, 3-0 Volleyball - Mon, Nov. 5, 2012 Box Score BLUEFIELD, Va. – Volleyball wrapped up a very successful regular season with a three-set win (25-14, 25-22, 25- 16) over Bluefield (16-21, 4-10 MSC) Monday night. The Bears (22-12, 10-4 MSC) win was there second straight set win of the season over Bluefield. They will now get ready for the MSC Tournament where they will play in the No. 4/5 matchup on Friday against an opponent yet to be determined. The Bears hit .280 in the regular season finale, while holding Bluefield to just a .154 hitting mark. Paige Zelich led all players with a match-high 10 kills. She recorded those kills on 25 swings with just one error to hit .360 for the match. Kelsey Bielanow and Tiffany Jacksoneach finished the match with seven kills on the night. Jackson's kills came in just 14 attempts with no errors for a .500 hitting mark. Ashley Galbraith added five kills, whileDevan Scarberry and Alex Pohl each totaled four. Hannah Gephart finished with 18 assists on those kills, while Carly Mazza added 15 more. Mazza was very efficient in her sets, needing just 25 attempts to get those 15 helpers. The Bears also recorded eight service aces on the night. The Mid-South leader, Gephart, had three on the evening, while Kirsti Yates added two more. Three other players recorded one ace. Yates also finished with a match-high 14 digs, while Madison Smith and Scarberry each added eight more. The Bears totaled six blocks on Monday evening. Pohl led the way with three by herself (one solo, two assist). The Bears will open the Mid-South Tournament this Friday against an opponent to be determined by the end of Tuesday night's matches. With a win in the opening round, the Bears would move onto Saturday when both the semifinals and finals will take place.

Volleyball Rolls Past UVA-Wise on Senior Night, 3-0 Volleyball - Thu, Nov. 1, 2012 Box Score PORTSMOUTH – Volleyball sent the members of its senior class out on a convincing note with a 3-0 win (25-13, 25- 15, 25-19) over UVA-Wise in the home finale. After honoring its three seniors, the Bears (21-12, 9-4 MSC) picked up their 16th sweep of the season. Seven of those sweeps have come in conference victories. The opening set saw the two teams even midway through at 12-all. However, the Bears put point after point together as UVA-Wise was unable to stop the rally before ultimately falling, 25-13. In the first set, the Bears hit .348 as a team, killing 10 attacks in 23 attempts against just two errors. Senior Holly Tobias finished with five of those kills. The Bears started to then pick up steam in the second game, jumping out to an 18-9 lead before closing at 25-15. The Bears hit .368 in the second and held the visitors to a .129 average in the middle game to take the commanding 2-0 lead. The Bears opened up an 18-8 lead to start the third and final game, but UVA-Wise would not go away easily. The Cavs won five straight points to get the set to 18-13. However, the Bears would regroup and close out the sweep with a 25-19 third set win. Despite being the closest in score, the third set was the best of the evening on the attack as the Bears hit .394 to close out the match. Over the match, the Bears finished 33 kills and just five errors in 75 attempts for a .373 hitting percentage. Six different players finished with hitting percentages of .300 during the victory. The .373 hitting percentage was the Bears' fifth-highest average this season. For the match, Tobias finished with a team-high seven kills. Kristi Humble also added seven more kills in the victory. Kelsey Bielanow and Ashley Galbraith finished with six kills each.Carly Mazza finished the match with a team-high 14 assists, while Hannah Gephart finished the win with 12 helpers. Bielanow finished the match with six blocks on the evening, three solo and three assists.Devan Scarberry and Humble each finished with one solo block and helped on four more. In total, the Bears finished the evening with 14 blocks as a team. On her senior night,Janine Grey finished with one kill and added two more block assists to the winning effort. Volleyball will be back in action next Monday at Bluefield for its final game of the regular season. That match will begin at 6 p.m. Postseason play will begin for the Bears on Nov. 9-10 when the team travels to Frankfort, Ky. for the conference tournament.

Volleyball Hosting Toy Drive this Thursday Volleyball - Wed, Oct. 31, 2012 PORTSMOUTH – Volleyball will be hosting a toy drive for its final match of the 2012 season. The toys will go to the children of Honduras. Below is a story from junior Kirsti Yatesexplaining her background with the children that will benefit from the toy drive. Toys will also be collected at future SSU athletics events this year and be delivered personally in May of 2013. From Kirsti Yates: Every year in May, the Christian Youth Group from Shawnee State goes to Honduras on a mission trip. While we are there, we build houses for the homeless, spend time with the special need orphans, feed the homeless and help out at the regular orphanage. Our main focus is to show these children God's love and help them to understand how much God cares for them. I wish everyone could experience life in a foreign country, these amazing people have almost nothing but they are so grateful and many are so focused on getting their happiness from God! I honestly believe I receive as much of a blessing as they do! While we are there we pass out clothing, toys, shoes and much more and what I wanted to do was make it known to the students and to the community about our toy drive so in May when we go back to Honduras we can personally deliver them to these children. So, on Thursday, November 1st at 7 p.m., the volleyball team is having a toy drive for our last home game. We are collecting many toys like bubbles, balls, frisbees, dolls, hot wheels and donations for us to take with us when we go back Honduras in May. It would be such a blessing to these children if you could announce it and let the community know how to help! God has really laid this on my heart and I'm just following Him and letting Him run with it! - Kirsti

Volleyball vs. UVA-Wise Moved to Thursday at 7 p.m. Volleyball - Tue, Oct. 30, 2012 PORTSMOUTH – Due to inclement weather, Tuesday night's volleyball match vs. UVA-Wise has been postponed. The two teams are now scheduled to play this Thursday, November 1 at 7 p.m. This upcoming match will be volleyball's final home contest of the season and will serve as Senior Day for the three seniors on this year's team.

Volleyball Splits Saturday in Grand Rapids Volleyball - Sat, Oct. 27, 2012 Box Score 1 Box Score 2 GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Volleyball split its matches on the second day of the Aquinas Cornerstone Classic. After starting the morning off with a four-game loss to Grace (20-13) – (25-16, 25-23, 26-28, 27-25), the Bears (20-12) rebounded with a three-game victory over Marygrove (10-21) - (25-17, 25-23, 25-9). For her efforts throughout the weekend, Kirsti Yateswas named second-team all-tournament. To keep the opening match alive after falling in a 2-0 hole, the Bears held Grace to just a .068 hitting percentage in the third set, winning the hard-fought 28-26 game. However, the Bears could not repeat the late game heroics during the fourth and fell in extra points. For the first time this season, Holly Tobias led the team in kills. She finished with a match-high 12. Kelsey Bielanow added nine more, while Kristi Humble amd Galbraith finished with eight. Humble also added two solo blocks in the win. The Bears actually held a slight advantage in hitting for the match with four more kills. However, both sides were held under .170 averages by the opposition. Carly Mazza and Hannah Gephart perfectly split the setting duties as each handed out 20 assists. Mazza also finished with two service aces. Defensively, Yates finished with a match-high 32 digs. Abbi Morrow and Madison Smith finished with 15 and 14 digs, respectively. Smith also had 39 successful service receptions, while Morrow added 30 more. After a frustrating weekend that saw the Bears drop the first three, SSU rebounded with the sweep in its final match. The Bears hit .262 for the match, while also holding Marygrove to a .042 hitting percentage. Bielanow finished the win with a team-high 11 kills. Galbraith and Humble were second and third on the team with 8 and 7 kills, respectively. Devan Scarberryand Tobias added six kills apiece. Mazza dished out a team-high 16 assists, while Gephart added 13 helpers. Gephart also added three of the team's eight service aces in the second match. Bielanow (two aces) was the only other Bear to finish with more the one. Another steller defensive effort from Yates netted her 19 digs in the win. Eight of the 12 players that saw the court ended up recording a dig in the match. Bielanow added two solo blocks and assisted on three more of the team's 10 total blocks. Tiffany Jackson, Humble and Tobias also assisted on two blocks. The Bears will be back in action this Thursday in a rescheduled match. SSU will take on UVA-Wise at 7 p.m. on its home court in the final home match of 2012. The regular season will end on next Monday, November 5 at Bluefield. The Mid-South Tournament is scheduled for two weekends from now (Nov. 9-10).

Volleyball Handed Two Tough Defeats in Michigan Volleyball - Fri, Oct. 26, 2012 Box Score 1 Box Score 2 GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. Volleyball was dealt a pair of tough losses on the opening day of the Aquinas/Cornerstone Challenge Friday night in Michigan. The Bears (19-11) fell to Mount Vernon Nazarene (20-12) in four sets (25-20, 25- 20, 21-25, 25-21) to start the day. In the second match Friday night, SSU dropped a five setter to Cornerstone (21-7), 25-17, 19-25, 25-17, 27-29, 15-11. Earlier in the year, Shawnee State defeated Mount Vernon Nazarene in five sets when they came from down 2-1 on their home court. In the neutral site meeting, the Bears could not pull off that same comeback as they won the third set (SSU won the first, fourth and fifth sets in the previous meeting) but had that third set score on Friday turned around on them in the fourth. In the opening match, Ashley Galbraith finished with a team-high 12 kills. Kelsey Bielanowjust missed a double- digit mark with nine kills. Devan Scarberry added six more, while three players finished with five. Hannah Gephart (22 assists) and Carly Mazza (19 assists) handled the primary setting duties. Four different Bears finished with two service aces (Abbi Morrow, Kirsti Yates, Gephart and Bielanow). Yates also finished with a match-high 35 digs. Madison Smith added 12 digs, while Gephart also dug out 10 kill tries. The Bears also recorded eight blocks, including solo efforts from Kristi Humble, Holly Tobias and Scarberry. The second match saw the Bears claw back from down a set after both the first and third games, including a thrilling 29-27 win to extend the match in the fourth. However, the trading of sets would come back to haunt them in the fifth as they fell in the decisive set. The match was the fifth time this season the Bears have had to go the full five games. For the second straight match, it was Galbraith that led the attack with a team-high 14 kills. Humble and Scarberry each had double-figure kill days with 11 and 10, respectively. Gephart and Mazza, 26 and 18 assists, respectively, set them up but the Bears were just unable to stop the Cornerstone attack that hit .331 for the match and below .300 in only two sets. Yates added four more service aces in the second, a match high, and added a team-high 19 digs to her team's efforts and successfully received 41 of the 42 serves directed at her. SSU added 11 more blocks in the second match. Humble and Bielanow led the way with a match-high five each. Both players finished with three solo blocks. SSU will be back in action tomorrow morning against Grace at 10 a.m. After that match is completed, volleyball will wrap up the four-match weekend with a meeting against Marygrove at noon.

Shawnee State Honored as Champions of Character Five-Star Institution Volleyball - Mon, Oct. 22, 2012 Five-Star Institutions Five-Star Conferences PORTSMOUTH – Shawnee State Athletics was recently recognized as one of 221 NAIA institutions to be named a Five-Star Institution for the 2011-12 season. SSU received a score of 89 (out of a possible 100). Points are earned in five key areas: character training, conduct in competition, academic focus, character recognition and character promotion. With that rating, the Bears led the way in the Mid-South with the conference's highest rating. As a conference, the Mid-South also earned Five-Star distinction with 11 of the 12 members earning the Five-Star rating. Of the 221 member institutions, Shawnee State's score was tied for the sixth-highest in the country. The Bears just missed a top- five rating behind Montana Tech (100), Carroll (96), Paul Quinn (91), St. Francis (Ind.) (91), and Xavier (La) (91).

Volleyball Bests Cumberlands to Split Crossover Saturday Volleyball - Sat, Oct. 20, 2012 Box Score 1 Box Score 2 PORTSMOUTH – Volleyball picked up a four-set win to open up Saturday against the University of the Cumberlands (15-9, 6-6 MSC) – (25-18, 23-25, 25-17, 25-19) but was forced to settle for a split after Lindsey Wilson (20-8, 10-2 MSC) won in three sets - (29-27, 25-17, 25-21). Against Cumberlands, the Bears limited to the Patriots to just a .123 hitting percentage. After taking the opening set, the one thing Cumberlands was doing extremely well – blocking – came back to haunt the Bears in the second. However, they would quickly rebound in the final two sets to secure the victory. In the win, three Bears' hitters totaled double-digit kills. Paige Zelich finished with a match-high 14 kills. Tiffany Jackson and Ashley Galbraith finished right behind her with 12 each.Kristi Humble just missed a double-figure total with nine kills, while Alex Pohl andKelsey Bielanow finished with eight. Hannah Gephart and Carly Mazza once again basically split the setting duties. Gephart finished with 29 assists, while Mazza tallied 26 helpers. Gephart also totaled three service aces, while Mazza and Zelich each finished with one. Defensively, Kirsti Yates finished with a match-high 23 digs. For the third straight match,Alex Pohl broke her career high in digs. Her new mark is at 22 after this morning.Madison Smith dug up 18 attack attempts as the Bears finished the win with 82 total digs and blocked a total of five shots. The Bears looked strong right from the start against Lindsey Wilson and had several set points to try and close out the opening game. However, the Blue Raiders just would not go away and eventually won the extra points game at 29-27. The second set saw the Bears' kill total equal their errors. They would correct that in the final set with 10 kills against just four errors, but fell just short. In the second match, Zelich again led the way with a team-high nine kills. Pohl finished the afternoon match with seven, while Jackson added six more kills. In the second match, Mazza led the way with 16 assists, while Gephart added 10 more. Pohl finished with a team-high 15 digs, while Yates added 14 in the afternoon session. The Bears blocked a total of nine Lindsey Wilson attacks. Bielanow had three solo blocks, while Jackson and Pohl (also an assist) had two solo blocks each. Volleyball will now head to the Aquinas/Cornerstone Classic to take part in four matches next Friday (Mt. Vernon Nazarene, 6 p.m. and Cornerstone, 8 p.m.) and Saturday (Grace, 10 a.m. and Marygrove, noon). After that, just two conference matches await the following week to close out the regular season slate. The Bears are currently in fifth overall in the Mid-South and cannot finish any lower than that with one more MSC victory. They are a half game out of fourth, one out of third and two out of second.

Volleyball Subdued by Campbellsville, 3-0 Volleyball - Fri, Oct. 19, 2012 Box Score PORTSMOUTH – Volleyball dropped a three-set match to Campbellsville to open a challenging slate, hosting its own Mid-South Crossover weekend. After a tough opening set (25-14). The Bears were edged out in the final two games by scores of 25-21 and 25-23. Shawnee State (18-8, 7-3 MSC) now sits in fifth place overall in the conference, while the Tigers (20-7, 8-2 MSC) remain in second place. However, the Bears will have a quick turnaround to make some of that ground back tomorrow with two more matches. The Bears killed just seven of their 30 attempts in the opening set and compounded that by committing eight attacking errors. They would gradually gain momentum in each successive set, killing nine attacks in the second and 13 attacks in the third. However, Campbellsville averaged just over 11 kills per set and committed just 15 attacking errors to the Bears' 21. Included in that total was eight attempts that were blocked by the Tigers' front line. Alex Pohl finished her well-rounded effort with a career-high 19 digs in the match, finishing with at least six in every set. Her previous high in a single match was 12, which she just tied in the most recent match with Pikeville. Pohl also successfully received 22 of the 23 services in her direction. She was also second on the team in kills (6) and finished with a .417 hitting percentage. Pohl was also one of four Bears to record a service ace and tallied the only solo block for SSU on the night. Ashley Galbraith finished with a team-high seven kills, while Kristi Humble andTiffany Jackson each tallied four more. Jackson and Kelsey Bielanow also teamed up for two block assists together. Carly Mazza dished out assists on 15 of those kills, including eight during the final set to help try and force another game. Hannah Gephart finished with 10 assists for the match. Eight of those came during the final two sets. She was also the only Bears' player to record two service aces. In addition to Pohl, Madison Smith also achieved double figures in digs, finishing with 10.Kirsti Yates added nine more. Smith and Yates were also second and third on the team in service receptions, finishing with 18 and 12, respectively. The Bears now have little time to think about tonight's loss as two more key matches await them tomorrow. They will host University of the Cumberlands in one of the opening matches tomorrow beginning at 11 a.m. They will have the second set of matches off before finishing the weekend with Lindsey Wilson, a team that is currently tied with Campbellsville for second. The Bears can pull even in the loss column with the Blue Raiders with a victory Saturday.

Volleyball Rolls Past Pikeville, 3-0 Volleyball - Tue, Oct. 16, 2012 Box Score PIKEVILLE, Ky. – Volleyball picked up its second sweep of Pikeville Tuesday night, the latest MSC victory coming on the road in straight sets (25-16, 25-17, 25-16.) The Bears' (18-7, 7-2 MSC) win was the 14th sweep of this season and helps them keep pace with the rest of the two-loss Mid-South schools battling for second place heading into the crossover weekend. On the attack, the Bears used a balanced attack to keep Pikeville (4-18, 0-9 MSC) off balance. Five different players recorded at least four kills in the victory. Ashley Galbraith finished with a team-high eight kills in 13 attempts. Tiffany Jackson recorded six kills, while Paige Zelichadded five more. Alex Pohl and Kelsey Bielanow each added four more to the winning effort.Carly Mazza assisted 11 of those kills attempts, while Hannah Gephart finished with nine helpers. A strong Pikeville defensive effort limited SSU's hitting percentage as the hosts totaled 85 digs over the three games. However, the Bears stayed relentless and recorded 28 kills in the win. Shawnee State was also solid in its service game with 10 aces during the match. Four players (Kirsti Yates, Gephart, Pohl and Zelich) each had two service aces. Yates also led the defensive effort with a team-high 17 digs and 15 service receptions. Pohl added 12 digs to go along with 11 receptions, while Madison Smith received 12 service attempts and dug out three more kill tries. The defensive effort held the hosts to just a .117 hitting percentage with just 20 kills (nine errors) in 94 attempts. The win Tuesday night was the first of four MSC matches that the Bears will play this week. They will be back on their home court this weekend to host a MSC crossover weekend. SSU will take on Campbellsville (Fri. at 7 p.m.), Cumberlands (Sat. at 11 a.m.) and (RV) Lindsey Wilson (Sat. at 3:30 p.m.) over the weekend. All three of those teams, along with Shawnee State, are either tied or within a game of second place in the Mid-South.

Volleyball Downed by Rio Grande, 3-0 Volleyball - Tue, Oct. 9, 2012 Box Score RIO GRANDE, Ohio – Volleyball handed Rio Grande a loss earlier in the season on its home court. Tuesday night, the Red Storm (15-7, 6-2 MSC) returned the favor on its home court as they dropped the Bears (17-7, 6-2 MSC) in three sets (25-17, 25-14, 25-18). The two schools now find themselves in four-way tie with Campbellsville and Lindsey Wilson for second place in the conference. On a positive note, Tuesday was a night for the record books as senior Alex Pohl totaled four blocks. She now holds the school's all-time blocks record with 376. She broke the mark of Kristen Jones, who played for the Bears from 2000-2003. During the match, the Bears attack committed 23 attacking errors. This led to just a .042 hitting percentage for the match. In the opening set, the Bears 10 kills equaled their 10 attack errors. In the second (8 kills, 6 errors) and third (9 kills, 7 errors) sets, the Bears had just two more kills than errors. Kelsey Bielanow led the team with six kills over the three sets. On her record-breaking night, Pohl added five more kills to the team's efforts. Ashley Galbraith, Tiffany Jackson andPaige Zelich each tallied four kills in the loss. Hannah Gephart assisted on 10 of those kills, while Carly Mazza added eight more from her setting position. Six different SSU players, including Pohl, recorded at least one block in the match.Kirsti Yates finished with a team- high eight digs on the night, while Madison Smith finished with six. The Bears will now have a week to regroup and refocus their efforts as each of the next four competitions will be Mid- South matchups. The Bears will travel to Pikeville next Tuesday at 6 p.m. before hosting a Mid-South crossover weekend that following Friday and Saturday.

Volleyball Sweeps Ursuline, Falls vs. Cedarville Volleyball - Sat, Oct. 6, 2012 Box Score 1 Box Score 2 CEDARVILLE, Ohio – Volleyball picked up its 13th sweep of the season over Ursuline (2-21) – (25-14, 25-22, 25- 21), but had the tables turned on them with a loss in the second match to host Cedarville (20-3) – (25-16, 25-14, 25- 22). The Bears (17-6) have now won nine of their last 11 matches. Eight of those victories have come in the minimum three games. Shawnee State got out to a quick start on Saturday, winning eight of the first 10 points to jump out to the 8-2 lead on Ursuline. They held right around a 10-point lead from basically 19-9 until closing out the opening set. SSU would also never trail in the second set. The Bears led by as much as six (14-8), but the Arrows would quickly close their deficit to just two, at 15-13. Ursuline would stay within striking distance and bring the match back to 23-22 before the Bears took the final two points for the 2-0 lead. The third set would also be a tightly contested game. The two squads found themselves tied at 16-all before the Bears would eventually go up 19-17 after a Carly Mazza service. The teams would trade points to get to 24-21 where a service error would give SSU the 3-0 victory. The Bears hit .312 in the opening match, including a .344 percentage in the opening game, while holding their opponents to just a .079 mark for the match. The highest Ursuline percentage during any set was a .161 mark in the final game. Kristi Humble andTiffany Jackson led the Bears' attack with nine kills. Alex Pohl and Ashley Galbraith added eight more, while Paige Zelich finished with seven. Hannah Gephart totaled 24 assists over three sets, while Mazza talied 16 more helpers. Kirsti Yates dug out a match-high 16 kill attempts. Three other players (Madison Smith, Gephart and Zelich) would also add six digs each in the opening victory. In the second match with Cedarville, the opening set was decided by a streak of rallies by each team. SSU found itself down early to the hosts, who took nine of the first 10 points in the opening set. The Bears would take 10 of the next 12 points to close the gap to two, at 13-11. However, the Yellow Jackets answered right back with five straight points of their own before closing out the opening game. In the second set, the Yellow Jackets held a 12-9 advantage just past the midway point. However, they would run off six straight points before the Bears earned a side-out, paving the way for a 2-0 lead. Cedarville looked primed to take an easy sweep in the final match, leading by as much as seven, at 14-7. However, SSU would not go away without a battle. The Bears slowly clawed their way back into the match and four straight service points from Mazza would tie the set at 19-all. The two sides would trade side-outs all the way to 22-all before the Yellow Jackets finished the match with three straight points. Hindering the Bears' ability to attack their opponents were 10 blocks by Cedarville in three sets. However, SSU would also return the favor with 10 blocks of its own. In total, the Bears finished the match with 25 kills, but committed 21 attacking errors. Four different players (Kelsey Bielanow, Jackson, Pohl and Zelich) each tied with a team-high four kills. Pohl also finished with a team-high three block assists. Gephart tallied a team-high 12 assists, while Yates totaled a team-high 12 digs. Smith added six more in the second match. Volleyball's only match this week will be a rematch of their earlier five-set thriller to open MSC play when they travel to Rio Grande for 7 p.m. start this Tuesday.

Volleyball Takes Two at Home Tri-Meet Volleyball - Tue, Oct. 2, 2012 Box Score 1 Box Score 2 PORTSMOUTH – Finally able to play in front of its home crowd for just the third time this season, volleyball picked up two more wins Tuesday evening. The Bears (16-5, 6-1 MSC) opened the evening with three-set MSC win (25-21, 25- 21, 25-19) over (9-11, 2-5). SSU needed a big fifth-set rally to win (25-19, 16-25, 23-25, 25-17, 20- 18) the match over Mount Vernon Nazarene (14-7). Although the Bears took the MSC match against Bluefield in three games, the Rams did not go down easily. In the opening game, Shawnee State was actually trailing at 20-19, but would close strong by taking six of the final seven points in set one to secure the lead. In the second, SSU found itself knotted at 17-all before it began to pull away for the second straight 25-21 victory to go up 2-0. The clinching set would see the Bears take a slight advantage early and go up by as many as seven at 24-17. The Bears would need three attempts at a match ball but would eventually close out the sweep with a 25-19 win in the third. In the opening set Shawnee State hit .353 to help them pull through in tight opener. However, the Rams would hit .258 to keep pace until late. Over the final two games, the Bears held Bluefield to just .056 and .115 hitting percentages, respectively, while holding identical .214 hitting percentages in both. For the match, Paige Zelich finished with a team-high 10 kills. Right behind her were Tiffany Jackson and Kristi Humble, who each finished with nine. Setting them up were Hannah Gephart and Carly Mazza, who finished with 19 and 15 assists, respectively. Madison Smith finished with a match-high 14 digs, while Kirsti Yates totaled eight in the win over Bluefield. As a team, the Bears blocked six kill attempts. Ashley Galbraith recorded half of those herself with three solo blocks. Humble finished with three block assists, whileKelsey Bielanow (two assists) and Alex Pohl (one assist) also blocked shots in the win. The Bears did not miss in beat in the first set after the break with Mount Vernon Nazarene. However, Mt. Vernon Nazarene would respond with wins the in the next two sets to take a 2-1 lead before SSU tied the match at two-all with a decisive win in the fourth. In the fifth, the Bears took their final timeout trailing by six, at 13-7. That is when the late rally ensued. The Bears took five of the next six points, forcing the Cougars to call a timeout with the score 14-12. Even that was not enough to slow down SSU's momentum as it took the next two points as well. The two squads would be even at 14-all through 18-all before the Bears took the final two points to clinch the comeback win, including the game-winning kill from Bielanow. In the second match, Zelich finished with a team-high 17 kills, while Humble added 12 more. Gephart totaled 31 assists, while Mazza added 20. The Bears also dominated the net with a total of 35 blocks over the five sets. Bielanow led the way with four solos and 17 assists. Pohl added six solo blocks and seven more block assists, while Zelich assisted on 11 blocks. When the Cougars could get the ball past the Shawnee State blockers, Yates and Smith totaled 15 digs a piece. The Bears will be back on the road this Saturday at Cedarville for two matches against Ursuline (3 p.m.) and host Cedarville (5 p.m.). The next MSC match will be October 9 against Rio Grande.

Volleyball Serves Up Sweeps of St. Catharine, Cumberland Volleyball - Sat, Sep. 29, 2012 Box Score 1 Box Score 2 GEORGETOWN, Ky. – Less than 24 hours after being dealt its first MSC loss of the season, volleyball answered back with two sweeps of their own on Saturday. The Bears (14-5, 5-1 MSC) dispatched of both St. Catharine (5-14, 1-6 MSC) – (25-21, 25-21, 25-23) and (6-13, 1-6 MSC) – (25-14, 25-16, 25-20) in the minimum three sets. Each of the team's last nine wins have come in three sets and they have 11 in this fashion on the year. In the opening match against St. Catharine, the Bears would find themselves down early, 11-5. Just like yesterday against Georgetown, they would rally and tie the set at 11-all. This time the rally started with the service of Kirsti Yates. The latest St. Catharine would ever hold even a tie in the opening set was at 13-all as they Bears took control of the set late. In the second game, SSU jumped out to a 4-0 lead behind the service of Hannah Gephart. The team would never trail in the set and would take a 2-0 lead following a second straight 25-21 victory. The third and final set of the opening match would see SSU lead by as many as five, at 15-10. However, St. Catharine would not go away quietly. The Patriots would never gain a lead, but brought the match back to 18-17. Shawnee State would then go up 24-21 before clinching the match on the third match point. Kelsey Bielanow led all hitters with a match-high nine kills. Ashley Galbraith andKristi Humble would add seven more. Carly Mazza totaled a match-high 20 assists, while Gephart added 14 more in the victory. The Bears blocked eight shots in the opening match.Alex Pohl led the team with three block assists and added another solo. Paige Zelich added two more solos, while Galbraith assisted on a pair. Yates finished with a match-high 19 digs and was one of six players to record at least four digs. After tight scores in the opening match, SSU put some distance between themselves and Cumberland in the second. This was thanks in large part to a .426 hitting percentage for the match. The Bears hit .342, .538 and .433 in the first through third sets, respectively. In the opening set, Cumberland never won more than a single point off of any player's service as Shawnee State just stretched the lead further as the game wore on. In the second, the Bulldogs would earn two points on one player's service just one time and were held to no service points on all but two other times in the middle set. The clinching set was the hardest to put away for the Bears as they were tied at 14-all before a strong service performance from Zelich gave them a 19-14 lead. They would eventually lead by as much as 24-20, but needed four match balls to finally clinch their second sweep of the day. Humble and Pohl (10 kills each) led a Bears' squad that saw six players record at least five kills during the afternoon match. In the match with Cumberland, it was Gephart that lead the team with 22 assists, while Mazza totaled 19 more for the winners. The Bears blocked nine kill attempts in the second match. Eight of those came of block assists, including five from Jackson and four more from Bielanow. Cumberland hit just .079 for the match. SSU's defense saw 11 different players pick up a dig in the match, led by Yates' 18. After playing 10 straight matches in visiting gyms, volleyball will be back on its home court this Tuesday, October 2 for a tri-match vs. MSC foe Bluefield (4:30 p.m.) and non-conference opponent Mount Vernon Nazarene (7:30 p.m.). Those two schools will play each other in between SSU's matches.

Volleyball Handed First MSC Loss by No. 16 Georgetown, 3-0 Volleyball - Fri, Sep. 28, 2012 Box Score GEORGETOWN, Ky. – Despite chances late to take multiple sets against No. 16 Georgetown, it was the nationally- ranked Tigers (14-2, 5-0 MSC) that would be able to pull the late points out, handing the Bears (12-5, 2-1 MSC) their first conference defeat (25-23, 25-19, 25-21) of the season. In the process, Georgetown moved into sole possession of first place as the only remaining unbeaten team in MSC play. In both of the first two sets, SSU would rally to tie the match and in the first set hold a lead at 22-21. However, the set did not start out the way the Bears would have hoped for. Finding themselves down as much as 21-13, Paige Zelich took her position at server after her own kill made it 21-14. When she was done serving, SSU had rallied to take the lead at 22-21. The two squads would also find themselves knotted at 22 and 23-all before Georgetown took the final two points to claim the opening game. In the second, the Tigers would stretch their lead to as much as 16-11; however, SSU would again rally to knot the second game at 19-all. Unfortunately for the Bears, that point would be their final of the game as Georgetown ripped off the final six to take a 2-0 advantage. Faced with the must-win game, the Bears took an early edge in the third, 6-3. This time it would be Georgetown's turn to answer as the Tigers would get those three back and lead by as many as five, 17-12. Not willing to concede anything, Shawnee State brought the match to within two points at 19-17, before Georgetown closed the win by taking six of the final 10 points. Zelich led all Bears with nine kills and three service aces over the match. Ashley Galbraithfinished with seven kills, while Alex Pohl added five more. Taking over the primary setting duties, Hannah Gephart finished with 14 assists and tallied another two service aces. Defensively, Kirsti Yates finished with a team-high 10 digs. Tiffany Jackson and Pohl also added a solo block and two block assists each. The Bears will be back in action tomorrow for two more MSC matches as they look to stay near the top of the standings. They will take on St. Catharine at 11 a.m. and follow that up with a match vs. Cumberland University at 1:15 p.m.

Volleyball Stays Unbeaten in MSC, Wins 3-0 over UVA-Wise Volleyball - Tue, Sep. 25, 2012 Box Score WISE, Va. – Volleyball picked up its fourth straight sweep of the season (25-20, 25-14, 26-24), and ninth overall, Tuesday night its first MSC road match at UVA-Wise (2-11, 1-3 MSC). The Bears (12-4, 3-0 MSC) are now just one of two teams that remain unbeaten in Mid-South play along with No. 16 Georgetown. Both Lindsey Wilson (vs. Georgetown) and Bluefield (vs. Rio Grande) fell from the unbeaten ranks in a busy night around the conference on Tuesday. Although SSU hit an unusually low .191 for the match, the Bears made up for it by tallying eight blocks and forcing 21 attack errors from UVA-Wise. At the net, Kelsey Bielanow blocked a team-high three kill attempts and assisted on another. Alex Pohl and Paige Zelich also recorded two solo blocks, while Ashley Galbraith tallied a block assist. Galbraith also led the team with seven kills against just one error in 20 attempts. In addition to their pair of blocks, Pohl and Zelich added six kills apiece to the winning effort. Bielanow also recorded five kills for the match. In addition to her team-high 13 assists,Hannah Gephart was a very efficient 3-for-5 (1 error) during her attack tries. Carly Mazza also totaled nine assists and had two service aces. This was just one behind Pohl who had a match-high three service aces. Defensively, Shawnee State's defense frustrated the Cavaliers' attack and held the hosts to just a .121 hitting percentage for the match. Madison Smith and Mazza each recorded five digs in the winning effort, while Pohl and Gephart added four more. After running their Mid-South record to a perfect 3-0, volleyball will now have three matches in the first crossover weekend of MSC play. No. 16 Georgetown will host all three of the Bears' matches this weekend and be Shawnee State's first opponent on Friday night at 7 p.m. The weekend will wrap-up Saturday against St. Catharine (11 a.m.) and Cumberland University (1:15 p.m.).

Two Sweeps give Volleyball a Runner-Up Finish at Cumberland Classic Volleyball - Sat, Sep. 22, 2012 Box Score 1 Box Score 2 LEBANON, Tenn. – Volleyball swept both its matches on Saturday at the Cumberland Classic to finish 3-1 on the weekend. The Bears (11-4) swept their opponents in all three of their victories. Shawnee State opened with a win over Martin Methodist (4-10) by scores of 25-22, 25-16 and 25-21. That was followed by the team's eighth sweep in 11 victories this season over a tough Webber International (9-5) team (25-23, 25-21, 25-23) that refused to go away despite huge leads by SSU in each set. The 3-1 weekend record gives Shawnee State its third straight runner-up finish in as many tournament weekends. Although the Bears opened with a sweep against Martin Methodist, they took a little time to mesh in the opening game. After taking four of the first six points, Shawnee State found itself down 12-4, as the Red Hawks ran off 10 straight points to take a commanding lead in the first set. SSU would close the gap slightly, but things were still looking bleak at 19-13. Service by Alex Pohl would get the match to 19-15. After trading side-outs, Carly Mazza's service would get the match within a point, 20-19. After knotting the set at 21 and 22-all, Kirsti Yates would end it with three straight service points, including two aces during that time to help put her team up a game. From their largest deficit of eight during the opening set, the Bears took 21 of the final 31 points. This included a 10-2 run to close the first. The second set saw the Bears jump out to an early lead with five straight service points fromHannah Gephart. They would hold a similar edge throughout most of the second set. After a SSU side-out made it 17-11, Gephart would rotate back around to server. Her services gave the squad a 22-11 lead and SSU would coast to the two-set lead. The third and final set would be tied at six different times. At 15-all – the final time which the set was tied - SSU would take 10 of the final 16 points. In the match with Martin Methodist, Shawnee State hit .288, including a .444 percentage in the middle game, while holding their opponents to just a .158 average. The Red Hawks hit just .071 and .125 over the last two sets. Paige Zelich and Ashley Galbraith each totaled a team-high six kills. They were two of eight players with at least three kills during the match. Gephart finished with a team-high 11 assists, while Mazza added nine more. Yates finished with a team-high five of SSU's 12 service aces to go along with a match-high 12 digs. The match with Webber International was a sweep, but not one of the three sets were decided by more than four points and two of those were decided by the minimal two. In the opening game against Webber International, the Bears jumped up early and held a five-point advantage for a large portion of the opening game. The largest lead Shawnee State held in the set was eight, at 20-12; however, the Warriors would rally and end up holding a lead at 22- 21. Tied at 23-all, the Bears would hold on for the last two points to take the opening set. For the second straight game, SSU would go up 20-12 on Webber International. The Warriors would again make a late run to get the lead cut to three, 23-20, but SSU would not let them get any closer to go up 2-0. The Bears also held an eight-point lead in the third and final game, 16-8. A third Warriors' late rally in as many games cut the SSU lead to 22-21. A pair of side-outs from each team would bring the match to 24-23, and with Webber International needing a point to extend the match it committed a service error and Shawnee State escaped the match unharmed despite the three consecutive close calls. In the final match of the weekend, Pohl and Zelich each finished with a team-high seven kills.Kelsey Bielanow, Tiffany Jackson and Galbraith each added five more. Jackson had two solo blocks, while Devan Scarberry and Pohl teamed up for two block assists. Gephart (15 assists) and Mazza (14 assists) split the setting duties, while Yates recorded 14 digs and was one of four SSU players with at least six digs in the match. That defensive effort helped contain Webber International to just a .028 hitting percentage on the day. After another solid weekend on the courts, the Bears now turn their attention back to MSC play this Tuesday at UVA- Wise. That match will begin at 6:30 p.m.

Volleyball Salvages Split at Cumberland Classic Volleyball - Fri, Sep. 21, 2012 Box Score 1 Box Score 2 LEBANON, Tenn. – Volleyball salvaged a split on the opening day of the Cumberland Classic with its sixth three- game sweep of the season over Lindenwood-Belleville (4-6) - (25-18, 25-13, 25-20). Earlier in the day, the Bears (9- 4) twice held a game advantage over Freed-Hardeman (5-5) – a team that was receiving votes in the top 25 earlier this season, but couldn't close out the five-setter (18-25, 25-11, 21-25, 25-20, 15-9). In the opening set against Freed-Hardeman, Shawnee State jumped out to an early lead but the Lions came back to make it 12-all. The match would get to 15-13 in SSU's favor after a couple solid service points from Carly Mazza helped establish the Bears' lead to take the opening set (25-20). The Lions would answer right back as they pulled away early on their way to taking the second game (25-11). Although the Bears won the third set, there were definitely some tense moments. Trailing 16-9, Hannah Gephart and Madison Smith would get the match to 18-all with more strong service performances. The set would stay tightly contested at 21-20 SSU, but the Bears would take four of the next five points to claim their second set advantage of the match, going up 2-1. Once again, the Lions would answer as the latest point Shawnee State would be even in the fourth game was at 11-all. Freed-Hardeman would stretch the lead to 20-15 before trading points back-and-forth for the 25-20 win to tie the match at two-all. The fifth and final game saw each team hold rallies for extended times. Unfortunately for SSU, the Lions made the last rally to set up the match win. Freed-Hardeman would use the momentum that it built up late in the fourth to carry them to a 7-2 lead out of the gates in the decisive game. Shawnee State would cut the lead to 8-6 before the Lions made another run to stretch the lead to 13-7. From there, each side would trade two points as Freed-Hardeman took the decider, 15-9. For the match, Ashley Galbraith finished with a team-high 11 kills. Kelsey Bielanow andHolly Tobias would end the five-setter with nine and eight kills, respectively. In total, 10 different Bears totaled at least one kill in the match. Gephart led the team in both assists (21) and service aces (4), while Mazza also tallied 17 helpers. Smith (13 digs) and Kirsti Yates(12 digs) split the defensive duties. The Bears came back with vengeance in their second match to earn the daily split. The match started with Gephart getting her team up 5-0 before Lindenwood-Belleville earned its first side-out. The Lynx brought the match back to 11-9 before a side-out and three more Gephart service points gave Shawnee State control of the opening set for good. The second set started out even more lopsided than the final score would indicate. The Bears took a 19-6 advantage and never looked back in their most convincing win of the day. The final game of the day was the most difficult during the sweep. Despite jumping out to a 14-7 lead, Lindenwood-Belleville would not go away quietly as it brought the score back to 16-14. However, three straight points by the Bears would allow them to trade points the rest of the way for the sweep in match two. In the win, Alex Pohl really found her grove offensively with a team-high nine kills and two solo blocks, plus another three block assists. Paige Zelich recorded six kills, while Galbraith finished with five. In addition to four service aces from both of the setters, Gephart handed out 16 assists while Mazza added eight more in the winning effort. Yates dug out a match-high 16 kill attempts and also had three more service aces. A total of seven blocks for the match helped hold Lindewood to a .087 hitting percentage over the three games. Shawnee State will be back in action tomorrow at 11 a.m. against Martin Methodist before wrapping up the Cumberland Classic against Webber International at 3 p.m.

Volleyball Splits a Pair of Matches in Pittsburgh Volleyball - Sat, Sep. 15, 2012 Box Score 1 Box Score 2 PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Volleyball split its two matches on Saturday in Pittsburgh. After opening up with a convincing three-game sweep (25-18, 25-14, 25-18) against Midway (0-7), the Bears (8-3) dropped a heartbreaking five setter (25-18, 20-25, 25-13, 19-25, 15-12) to Point Park (12-2) – a team that was receiving votes in the last NAIA Top 25 Coaches' Poll. In the opening match against Midway, the Bears used a strong attacking game at the net (.390 hitting percentage) and were a force on the defensive side as well (eight blocks). On the attack, nobody was better in the opening match than freshman Ashley Galbraith. She attempted 14 kill attempts in the opener, killing nine of those shots and did not commit an error to finish with a .643 hitting mark. As a team, the Bears committed just four attack errors over the three games. Overall, Galbraith was one of four to hit at least .400 in the match and one of seven with at least a .300 hitting percentage. Tiffany Jackson finished with seven kills in 15 attempts and added a solo block, plus three assists, while Kelsey Bielanow killed four of her 10 attacks, but really made her presence known countering the Midway attack, finishing with six block assists. Paige Zelich added six kills, while Kristi Humble added four more to the early sweep. In the service game, Alex Pohl finished with two service aces to go along with her three kills.Hannah Gephart took over the primary setting responsibilities in the opening match. Gephart would finish with 16 assists in the opening match. Devan Scarberry also racked up 11 assists in the first match to help the winning effort, while Kirsti Yates totaled fifteen digs over the three winning games. Against Point Park, the Bears actually finished with a better hitting percentage by nearly sixty points, (.310-.245), despite dropping three of the five games. However, Point Park blocked 12 to help them pull out the lengthy battle. It was a balanced effort on the attacking end in the second match as four SSU players finished with nine kills. Jackson finished with a team-high 11 kills in 20 attempts, a .550 hitting percentage. Zelich finished with 10 kills and the leader from the opening match, Galbraith, finished with nine. Galbraith and Jackson also had three block assists each in the five-game match. Pohl did a little bit of everything in the second match. She recorded 10 kills, 10 blocks, one solo block, five block assists and two service aces. In the second match, it was Scarberry that finished with a team-high 22 assists. Gephart was right behind her with 21 assists, while Yates finished with a match-high 28 digs. Volleyball will be back on the courts next Weekend at the Cumberland Classic in Tennessee. The tournament will get underway Friday, September 21 with matches against Freed-Hardeman (2 p.m.) and Lindenwood (6 p.m.). On Saturday, the Bear will wrap-up their four match weekend with Martin Methodist (11 a.m.) and Mid-Continent (3 p.m.).

Volleyball Sweeps Pikeville, 3-0 Volleyball - Mon, Sep. 10, 2012 Box Score PORTSMOUTH – Volleyball was in control from the very start and did not drop a game Monday night inside Waller Gymnasium against Pikeville. SSU (7-2, 2-0) remained unbeaten in conference play as it downed Pikeville (2-4, 0-2 MSC) in three games (25-8, 25-13, 25-5). Shawnee State has now swept its opponent in straight games in four of its seven wins this season. SSU controlled basically the entire match from start to finish. The team hit .444 for the match, while holding Pikeville to negative percentages in the first and third game, and just a .143 average in the second. Paige Zelich recorded a match-high 11 kills and finished with a .535 hitting percentage. Alex Pohl tallied eight kills and finishing with a .462 hitting mark. She also blocked one shot and assisted on another block. In total, seven different Shawnee State players finished with hitting marks of over .400.Kristi Humble and Ashley Galbraith each killed four shots and did not make an error, whileKelsey Bielanow (six kills) and Tiffany Jackson (five kills) each committed just one error in their attacking attempts. Holly Tobias also added three kills and a dig to the winning effort. The hosts recorded nine service aces, four solo blocks and three blocks that were assisted.Hannah Gephart (four aces), Madison Smith (three) and Zelich (two) each racked up aces in the match. Gephart also led the team in assists with 16, while Carly Mazza totaled 12 for the match. Kirsti Yates finished the match with 15 digs and received all 11 serves without committing an error. Smith and Pohl also added nine digs the winning side. Tonight's match was the final home competition for the month of September. The Bears will now begin a streak of 10 straight matches away from Waller Gymnasium. The first two of the road streak will come this Saturday when the team travels to Pittsburgh, Pa. for a pair of matches against Midway College (1 p.m.) and the host Point Park College (3 p.m.).

Volleyball Downed by Georgetown, 3-0 Volleyball - Sat, Sep. 8, 2012 Box Score GEORGETOWN, Ky. – Volleyball was dealt a 3-0 loss (25-22, 25-15, 15-15) to host Georgetown (6-2) in what was the de facto championship game of the Rumpke Invitational as both teams went unbeaten on Friday. The Bears (6-2) finished the weekend invitational with a 2-1 record. Despite both teams being Mid-South schools, today's match did not count towards the MSC conference record for either school. With its second runner-up finish in as many weekend tournaments, Shawnee State was well represented on the all-tournament team. For the Bears, Alex Pohl and Paige Zelich were each individually honored as all-tournament team members. Georgetown, who found itself just out of the top 25 poll in the most recent release, used a strong defensive effort take a close first set. The Bears committed just four attack errors in 42 chances during the opening game, but the Tigers recorded 24 digs in the first to stifle the attack. A strong defensive effort from Shawnee State limited Georgetown to a .227 hitting percentage in the opening game, led by Kirsti Yates' eight digs. However, the Tigers were slightly better in the service game and blocking at the net to pull out the win. In the next two games, Shawnee State kept up the strong defensive presence and held the Tigers to just a .233 hitting percentage for the match. However, in what can only be categorized as an uncharacteristic performance so far this season, the Bears committed more attacks errors than kills over the final two games as Georgetown finished off the match. For the match, Zelich finished with a team-high six kills, followed by Kelsey Bielanow's 5, while Tiffany Jackson and Pohl each had four. Hannah Gephart assisted on 12 on those, while Carly Mazza totaled 10 for the match. Yates finished the match with 17 digs, while Zelich added 8 more. The Bears will now be back at home on Monday for a Mid-South matchup against Pikeville. Monday's conference match will get underway at 6 p.m.

Volleyball Takes Two at Rumpke Invitational Volleyball - Fri, Sep. 7, 2012 Box Score 1 Box Score 2 GEORGETOWN, Ky. – After dropping a tough opening game to on Friday afternoon, volleyball rebounded nicely with six straight game victories to go a perfect 2-0 on the opening day of the Rumpke Invitational. The Bears (6-1) will now play tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. in hopes of finishing off a 3-0 weekend. After losing their first game to Union College (3-6) by a score of 25-21, the Bears took two straight games by 25-17 scores and sealed the match with a 25-22 win in the clinching game. Despite the break in between matches, Shawnee State was still able to carry that momentum into the evening match with St. Andrews (0-7). The Bears allowed just 30 points over three games in that match to claim their second win of the day (25-10, 25-8. 25-12). Starting off with Union College, the Bears finished the first game with a .152 hitting percentage. However, they would quickly turn that around in the second with a .394 average. Helping to turn the momentum in their favor were freshman Ashley Galbraith and sophomorePaige Zelich, who finished with four and five kills, respectively, in the second. The third game was a total team effort as seven different players recorded attack kills. At the net, sophomoresKelsey Bielanow and Tiffany Jackson each chipped in with three block assists. In the clinching game, it was Zelich that once again took the lead in the attack with five kills in the final game. She would finish with a team-high 14 kills against just three errors in 31 chances, a .355 percentage. Senior Alex Pohl also finished with a very consistent performance, killing eight of her 16 attempts with just one error for a .438 hitting mark. Junior Hannah Gephart completed the first match with a team-high 21 set assists, while fellow junior Carly Mazza totaled 14 in the opener. Kirsti Yates also turned in her traditional strong defensive performance by digging out 29 attacks, while freshman Madison Smithfinished with 15 digs. In the evening match with St. Andrews, the Bears started strong with a .483 hitting percentage in the opening game and did not let up. Leading the way was Pohl, who had 11 kills in 23 attempts. Zelich added six more, while Bielanow and Jackson each had five. Adding lofty hitting percentages were Gephart, who killed four of her six attempts, and Janine Grey, who recorded a kill on each of her three attempts. The Bears also totaled eight service aces, led by Abbi Morrow's three. Gephart added 15 set assists, while Mazza finished the match with 10. Also of note, Kristi Humble saw her first action since transferring in. She finished with three kills and assisted on a block. The Bears will now turn their attention to tomorrow's match with Georgetown. Although this will not count as an official Mid-South game in the standings, it will be a good gauge for the Bears as Georgetown was just one spot outside of the Top 25 poll this past week. A win over the hosts would also cap a perfect 3-0 weekend.

Volleyball Tops Rio Grande in Five to Open MSC Play Volleyball - Wed, Sep. 5, 2012 Box Score PORTSMOUTH – Playing in front of a raucous crowd for the home opener, volleyball needed to pull on every ounce of energy it could muster against Rio Grande. The Bears (4-1, 1-0 MSC) and Red Storm (3-2, 0-1) went the full five games, with each of the last three games going into extra points. It was not until Shawnee State came back from a 14-11 deficit in the fifth game by saving three match points before going on to win 17-15 that the home crowd could finally celebrate. Judging by the final three sets, the Bears won a fairly routine opening set, 25-20. SSU got off to a quick start when Hannah Gephart ripped off six straight points to start the match serving. The Red Storm would close that gap to 10-8 and eventually 15-13, before the Bears would pull away late. In the opening game, the Bears finished with a .353 hitting percentage, led by freshman Ashley Galbraith's four kills. However, Rio Grande would answer right back in the second when it hit .292 in the 25-15 game. With the teams tied at one game each, Rio Grande and Shawnee State were each looking for the upper hand in the third game. In that game, Shawnee State hit a respectable .273 on its attacks, but they limited the Red Storm attack to hit a match-low .143. The Red Storm committed seven attack errors, but equally frustrating for them was the fact that four different players dug out at least three attacks in that set. Leading the way, like she did basically all night from her defensive spot was Kirsti Yates, who finished the game with seven digs and handled six of Rio Grande's serves. After Shawnee State needed to go three points past 25 to win the third set and go up 2-1, Rio Grande would need 31 points to take the fourth set. With the match within reach, the Bears got six solo blocks and assisted on three more to go with a .382 hitting percentage. However, six service errors late in the set would spell doom for their chances of winning in four. In the decisive fifth game, it did not look good early as the Red Storm held leads of 4-2, 8-5 and eventually 14-11. However, Shawnee State would not be deterred. The Bears took the next three match points to stay alive at 14-all. The two squads traded the next two points to get to 15-all, before a Shawnee State kill and block on back-to-back points would send the home crowd away happy. In that final set, the Bears hit .538 with its nine kills spread amongst five different players. Perfectly splitting the setting duties, Carly Mazza and Gephart each had five assists in the last game. This was a mirror of the night as Mazza finished with 23, while Gephart had 22. Three Bears finished in double figures for kills, led by Paige Zelich's 12. Galbraith and Pohl each totaled 11 kills. Defensively, Zelich, Tiffany Jackson and Devan Scarberry each had three solo blocks. Yates led the team in digs with 29 on the evening, while Madison Smith finished with 17. After a thrilling win to open Mid-South play, the Bears will now have three non-conference matches this weekend at Georgetown's Rumpike Invitational. That tournament will get underway Friday at 2 p.m. and wrap up with a single game against Georgetown in a non-conference match between the schools. Georgetown was the only MSC school receiving votes in the latest Coaches' Poll.

Volleyball Finishes Runner-Up at Earlybird Tournament Volleyball - Sat, Aug. 25, 2012 Box Score 1 Box Score 2 DEARBORN, Mich – With a split of its two matches on Saturday, volleyball finished runner-up at the Earlybird Tournament. Shawnee State (3-1) started the day off with a four-set win over Trinity Christian, 18-25, 25-21, 25-21 and 25-13. However, the three match unbeaten streak to start the season would end there is the Bears fell to the host Michigan-Dearborn in straight games (27-25, 25-14 and 25-21). In addition to the trophy for the team's runner-up finish, senior Alex Pohl brought home individual hardware as she was named to the All-Tournament team for her play this weekend. The Bears came into Saturday's action winners of all six sets that they had played on Friday night. Nonetheless, it was Shawnee State that found itself down early. The Bears finished the opening set with a .235 hitting percentage which was largely down due to five attack errors. In the second through fourth sets, the Bears regrouped and finished with hitting percentages of .342, .432 and .517, respectively. In those final three sets, Shawnee State committed just four attack errors total. Freshman Ashley Galbraith finished the first match with an individual hitting percentage of .500, recording a team- high 14 kills in 28 attempts. Sophomore Paige Zelich and Pohl each added 11 kills to the winning effort. Both Zelich and Pohl saved their best performances of that match for the fourth set where they each recorded four kills along with Galbraith and sophomore Kelsey Bielanow. Setting the hitters up all morning was junior Carly Mazza, who recorded 26 total assists including eight a piece in the first and third sets. JuniorHannah Gephart also added 18 assists. Her classmate, Kirsti Yates, finished the match with 19 digs, 13 of which came in the first two sets. In the match against Michigan-Dearborn, Shawnee State found itself in a battle right from the opening point. The Bears and Wolves found themselves locked at 24 and 25-all before Michigan-Dearborn took the final two points and jumped to the early advantage. A tough second set would put the Bears down 2-0 before the Wolves closed the match with a 25-21 third set win. During their final match of the weekend, the Bears held the hosts to just a .181 hitting percentage but were undone by 16 attack errors, eight service errors and six ball handling errors. Abbi Morrow was a big part in holding the Wolves' attack at bay with a team-high eight digs in the match. For the Bears' attack, Pohl finished with a team-high seven kills. She also tallied two solo blocks and assisted on two more. Gephart and Mazza finished with 13 and 11 assists, respectively. The Bears will now have a week and a half away from competition to get ready for the MSC opener against Rio Grande. That match will be on Wednesday, September 5 at 7 p.m. in Waller Gymnasium and be the team's first chance to play in front of the home crowd.

Volleyball Opens 2012 Season with a Pair of 3-0 Sweeps Volleyball - Fri, Aug. 24, 2012 Box Score 1 Box Score 2 DEARBORN, Mich. – Volleyball kicked off the 2012 season in style Friday night by winning both of its matches in three sets against Lawrence Technological University (3-3) and Trinity International (0-2). In doing so, the Bears (2-0) were just one of three teams in the 20-team tournament to not drop a set in either match. Shawnee State opened up the Earlybird Tournament with Lawrence Tech. The opening match featured some tight sets for the Bears; however, they were able to persevere under pressure and take the first two sets, 25-22 and 25-23. In the third set, Shawnee State closed out the season opener with its best set of the match, clinching the sweep with a 25-20 win in the third. In the opening match, Shawnee State showed a strong defensive presence as six different players assisted on blocks during the season-opening match. Junior Tiffany Jackson led the way with three block assists while senior Alex Pohl finished with two solo blocks. When Lawrence Tech's attacks weren't getting blocked down, five different Bears recorded at least eight digs, led by freshman Madison Smith's 13. On the attacking side of the net, sophomoreKelsey Bielanow fininshed with a team-high 13 kills in the opening match. As a team, the Bears finished with a .325 hitting percentage in the second set, a .211 mark for the match. Heading right back out on the court for its second match of the evening, volleyball raced ahead in the early going against Trinity International and secured its most convincing set of the day, 25-15. In the second set, the Bears took a 2-0 lead with a 25-18 win to put themselves on the brink of a second sweep. In the third and final game, Trinity International gave Shawnee State its toughest set of the match. With the two squads tied at 24-all, the Bears took the next two points and finished off the daily sweep, 26-24. To finish off the second win of the day, Shawnee State used .500 and .300 hitting percentages in the first and second sets, respectively, to jump out to the early lead. Against Trinity International, it was sophomore Paige Zelich that finished with a team-high 10 kills in 21 attempts with no errors. Six players finished with hitting percentages of at least .333. Defensively, junior Kirsti Yates covered a lot of ground in the second match and recorded 18 digs. The Bears also blocked eight total shots against Trinity International with six players again recording block assists. With the 3-0 wins in both matches, Shawnee State joins St. Francis and Indiana East as the only teams that did not drop a set all day. Northwestern Ohio and Point Park were also unbeaten in their first two matches. Both of those teams dropped one set. The Bears will be back in action Saturday morning with an 8:30 match against Trinity Christian. At 12:30 p.m., Shawnee State will take on host Michigan-Dearborn in its final match of the weekend. Trinity Christian and Michigan- Dearborn each split their matches on Friday.

Shawnee State Athletics Get Underway Friday Volleyball - Wed, Aug. 22, 2012 PORTSMOUTH – Three teams get their seasons underway in the coming days as women's soccer, men's soccer and volleyball are all in the final stages of preparation for their season openers. Women's Soccer Looking to improve upon a 10-win season in 2011, the Bears will be the first team on campus in action as their season kicks off on Friday at 2 p.m. on the Shawnee Turf. They will play Rochester College in the first Shawnee State action of the season. The following week, the team will host its annual Crohn's and Colitis Awareness Day on Tuesday (Aug. 28) against West Virginia Tech. On Thursday (Aug. 30), Malone College visits Portsmouth. Both of these home games are slated for 4 p.m. Men's Soccer With a 36-man roster that includes 17 freshmen looking to make their collegiate debuts, men's soccer will jump right into the heart of its schedule as it takes on preseason No. 1 and defending national champion Lindsey Wilson. The Bears will host that matchup on Monday (Aug. 27) at 4 p.m. That same week, men's soccer will host Mount Vernon Nazarene (Aug. 29, 4 p.m.) before traveling to Fort Wayne for a pair of games with University of St. Francis and Indiana Institute of Technology (Sept. 1, 2). Volleyball Volleyball opens its 2012 season on the road in Michigan at the Michigan-Dearborn Earlybird Tournament. They will play a pair of matches on both Friday and Saturday. The season opener is slated for 5 p.m. against Lawrence Technological Institute. That match will be followed by a 7 p.m. meeting with Trinity International. On Saturday, the Bears will be back on the courts at 8:30 a.m. for a matchup with Trinity Christian. The four-match weekend will conclude with a 12:30 p.m. contest against the host, Michigan-Dearborn. Volleyball's first home contest of the year will be on Sept. 5 against Rio Grande. Stay Tuned … The preseason MSC favorites, men's and women's cross country team will open up their season next weekend at the Shawnee State Invitational on Friday, August 31. The tennis and golf programs will also get their fall schedules underway in the coming weeks. In addition to complete wrap-ups of each game on SSUBears.com, you can follow your Shawnee State Bears on Social Media through twitter: @SSUBears and Facebook: Shawnee State Athletics.

Volleyball Selected Sixth in MSC Preseason Poll Volleyball - Fri, Aug. 3, 2012 MSC Release PORTSMOUTH – Volleyball is projected to finish sixth in the upcoming season in a poll of the MSC coaches. The Bears received 50 points in the poll of the 11 coaches, who were not allowed to vote on their own team. The 2011 MSC Champion Lindsey Wilson is the preseason favorite to repeat, followed by Campbellsville, Georgetown, Rio Grande, and University of the Cumberlands. In 2011, the Bears played a tough non-conference schedule, finishing 11-26 overall, but finished 5-6 in MSC matches. The conference record put the Bears in second in their division and was good enough for the sixth seed overall in the conference tournament where they fell in the opening round. This season, there will be just one division for all 11 teams in the conference. After being a young team in 2012, the Bears return All-MSC player Kirsti Yates, along with honorable mention All-MSC honorees Hannah Gephart and Alex Pohl. Seven of the team's nine players that played in at least 100 games a season ago were juniors or younger. Head coach Susan Shelton was officially named the team's head coach in February. She will be entering her second season as head coach after serving in the interim role in 2011. Volleyball's 2012 season will get underway on August 24-25 at the Earlybird Tournament in Michigan. The first conference match of the season will also be the first home match of the season on September 5 against Rio Grande. The Mid-South Conference Tournament will be held on November 9-10 at the Frankfort Convention Center.

Mid-South Conference Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll Pos. Team Points (First-Place Votes) 1 99 (9) 2 Campbellsville University 87 (1) 3 Georgetown College 86 (1) 4 University of Rio Grande 65 5 University of the Cumberlands 62 6 50 7 Cumberland University 48 8 St. Catharine College 44 9 UVa.-Wise 27 10 Bluefield College 25 11 12