PIKEVILLE, Ky. – The University of Pikeville women's volleyball team came out of Thursday's doubleheader with two three-game sweeps under their belts, defeating both Alice Lloyd College and Johnson University 3-0.
 
The Bears emerge with an improved 7-17 overall record.
 
The afternoon match with Alice Lloyd was a convincing victory for the Bears, who showed that they had the Eagles outmatched early by exploiting gaps in the middle of their formation to take a 25-9 victory in Game One.
 
Game Two with Alice Lloyd was more of a contest, with the Eagles taking the lead on two occasions despite sophomore Paige Thacker's emphatic kill to open the game. After trailing 6-5, UPike outscored Alice Lloyd 20-11 for the rest of the game to take a 25-17 victory.
 
The Bears continued their solid play in Game Three, in which Alice Lloyd never took the lead again after scoring the game's first point. Though the Eagles fought hard to force a fourth game late, they were unable to match up with the Bears and ultimately fell short as UPike won the game 25-18 and the match 3-0.
 
Pikeville had a remarkable 27 service aces in the win. Junior Brooke Parrott had seven, while Thacker followed with six. Freshmen Taylor Watkins and Rebekah Potter added five apiece.
 
Thacker led Pikeville with 10 kills, while Parrott had 24 assists.
 
Johnson University played the Bears much closer, until the home team reeled off six unanswered points to turn a 10-8 lead into a 16-8 lead. The Evangels eventually halted the Bears' momentum by calling a late timeout and had started to chip away at the lead, but a dose of power hitting from junior Brittany Hodge carried the Bears out of Game One with a 25-16 lead.
 
Game Two was slightly inconsistent, as the Bears allowed the Evangels to take the lead 7-6, but it was given back to them by a subsequent serving error. After going on several runs but not truly putting the game away, and with the Evangels starting to work their way back into contention, UPike coach Anna Bevins called a timeout with her team leading 20-14.
 
The Bears responded by taking five of the next six points to close the game out 25-15.
 
The Bears had saved their best for last it seems, as game three was where they showed what they could do with a decisive 25-10 victory. Freshman Audrianna Ray scored the game-winning kill to finish a terrific day for the Bears.
 
Thacker had another solid night with 17 kills, while Hodge added nine. Parrott had another 29 assists in the win.
 
Watkins, Potter and Parrott had three more service aces.
 
Senior Shelbi White was terrific on defense with 13 digs.
 
-UPIKE-