PIKEVILLE, Ky. – The University of Pikeville Women's Volleyball team faced a double header Saturday, losing the first match to Midway College 3-2 and the second match to Bluefield College 3-1. With the losses UPIKE's record falls to 0-10 for the season.

The Bears seemed to have a chance against Midway, putting up a blowout win in the second game (25-10) and a solid win in the fourth game (25-18). UPIKE lost the first game despite opening on an 8-1 run. Midway slowly eroded at UPIKE's lead until finally handing the Bears a 25-23 defeat. Game three was competitive early, but Midway eventually pulled ahead to take a 25-17 victory.

The Bears showed their fighting spirit in game five, keeping the lead early and going point-for-point with Midway until the very end. The show of determination was sadly not enough, as UPIKE fell 16-14.

In the match, Sophomore Paige Thacker continued to put up points by logging 17 kills. Junior Brittany Hodge helped out the cause with 10 kills of her own. Defensively, Senior Shelbi White was stalwart with 39 digs and 42 receptions. Sophomore Bailey Hamilton displayed her leaping ability with three solo blocks, while Thacker had two solo blocks and one assisted block.

Bluefield College came into its match with UPIKE fresh off a victory against Midway earlier in the day. They showed no signs of fatigue early, as UPIKE was forced to call a timeout after surrendering an 11-4 lead. The timeout failed to spark any change however, and UPIKE eventually lost 25-15.

Game two looked like it would provide more of the same, as UPIKE was again forced to call a timeout after falling behind early 9-3. UPIKE managed to put together a subsequent 5-1 run, and pulled eventually into a 21-20 lead when Bluefield called a timeout to halt the Bears' momentum. The ploy failed, and UPIKE scored the next two points, prompting another Bluefield timeout. This proved insufficient, as UPIKE eventually prevailed 25-22.

UPIKE transferred its newfound momentum into game three, playing Bluefield closely until falling behind 11-7. A UPIKE timeout only slowed things down, and UPIKE would go on to lose the game 25-16. The fourth and final game was a back-and-forth affair for the most part. With the Bears on the verge of defeat 24-23, Anna Bevins called one last timeout to rally her team. The Bears fell short though, losing the game 26-24 and the match 3-1.

Thacker led three Bears in double digits in kills with 20, giving her 37 for the day. Hodge followed with 11 and freshman Audri Ray added 10.

Junior Brooke Parrott had 24 assists while freshman Alexis Howard added 17. On defense, White finished with 27 digs while Thacker added 10.

The Bears will be back in action on Thursday with an away game against Bluefield State. The Bears' next home game comes on September 22, when they will face WVU Tech.

-UPIKE-