PIKEVILLE – A pair of negative streaks ended on Tuesday when UPIKE volleyball defeated Kentucky Christian, 3-1 (23-25, 25-10, 25-21, 25-17) for its first home win and first win after losing four in a row.
UPIKE battled through a bevy of injuries that held three main rotation players out and another held to limited actions but had supreme performances from others to fill the void.
The quartet of Noelani Simpson, Cassie Jones, Hunter Clewis and Amanda Gooding all had double-digit kills with 17, 12, 11 and 10, respectively. To make those numbers even more impressive, they all had attack percentages above .340. UPIKE hit .310 as a team, the second-best mark this season.
In addition, Brooke Pickler had 40 assists on the match with Sierra Conn held out of her usual starting setter position because of injury. Pickler’s 40 assists are the most by a Bears player this year.
However, things did not start well for UPIKE when it dropped the first match 25-23. The Bears held a 13-10 lead in the first set but then KCU went on an 8-0 run and never looked back to steal the set.
That set loss obviously lit a spark for Pikeville who raced out to a 15-2 lead in the second set. Simpson and Brittany Reels each had two service aces in that run. The huge set victory was as UPIKE much efficiency as it was letting KCU beat themselves. Pikeville hit .333 with just one error in the set, but the Knights hit -.115 with nine errors.
KCU came close to taking back the lead in set three which stayed close most of the way before the Bears pulled away late.
UPIKE’s offense reached peak efficiency in the fourth set though, hitting an astounding .615 in the final set. As great as the offense was, the match ended with Amanda Gooding’s first solo block of the night. Gooding had a match-high five blocks in the match.
UP NEXT
UPIKE hits the road this weekend with a tough doubleheader, starting with an 8:00 p.m. matchup with No. 4 Lindsey Wilson in Columbia and then at Cumberland at 1:00 p.m. Saturday.
(Source: UPIKE Sports Information Office)