ST. CATHARINE, Ky. -- It was anybody's match to control in the second and third sets, but ultimately St. Catharine came out on top, winning 26-24 and 25-23 in the decisive sets to beat the University of Pikeville volleyball team on Thursday at Lourdes Hall.
A day after the Bears had one of their worst offensive showings of the season, they came back with a new level of intensity against the Mid-South Conference's most improved team. The Patriots, receiving votes in the NAIA Coaches' Top-25 Poll, had to put up with UPIKE's Sydney Hall tallying nine kills at a .300 clip and Connor Cook and Rachel Murphy each adding six at .087 and .357, respectively.
As a team, UPIKE finished with a .167 hitting percentage, but even with so much going right St. Catharine was a little better.
It started out great for the Patriots (22-8, 8-3 MSC) in the first set, grabbing a 25-16 win, giving them the momentum to finish out two close set wins behind a near .300 team hitting percentage. Allie Southard was St. Catharine's best, hitting 10 kills at a .529 percentage, while Jodie Klein kept rallies going with a match-high 17 digs.
Murphy was the Bears' digs leader with nine, followed by eight from Caitlynn Pfaadt. Cook and Hall both sent back a block and Sydney Morris handed out 17 assists, but 11 service errors and four ball-handling errors helped prove the difference for St. Catharine to come out with the win.
UPIKE (13-15, 1-12 MSC) is off until Sunday when it travels to Pippa Passes, Ky., to take on IU East at Alice Lloyd's gymnasium. Action is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. ET.
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