PIKEVILLE, Ky. -- The University of Pikeville volleyball team's offense came alive in the fifth set as it put away Shawnee State 3-2 on Tuesday night, winning its first Mid-South Conference match of the season.

After not hitting over .281 in a set during the match, UPIKE caught fire in the fifth, finishing at .500 on 12 of 22 hitting on the way to a 15-10 win to seal the match.

Noelani Simpson led Pikeville with 17 kills at a .200 clip and Cassidy Tackett chipped in with 17 to lead the attack. UPIKE also outblocked SSU 14-5 behind six blocks from Cassie Jones and five by Amari Eadie and Tackett. Ceceilia Ray hit three aces and Natalia Gascot led the defense with 14 digs as Savanna Zakman dished out 43 assists.

Brianna Wiget paced SSU with 16 kills, Deanna Smith had 39 assists and Stacia Martin and Smith had 12 digs each.

UPIKE won by set scores of 25-22, 23-25, 25-23, 19-25 and 15-10.

Pikeville got off to a great start in the opening set, all the way to when it led 21-15. But Shawnee went on a 7-2 run to get within a point at 23-22. SSU hit a serve into the net on the next point and Jones and Ray added a block at the end of the next rally to preserve the win.

After an attack error by Tyanna Smith in the second set, UPIKE had a 23-21 lead, but that's where the scoring ended for the Bears. SSU finished the frame on a 4-0 spurt, including two kills by Smith and one by Wiget.

Neither team led by more than four points in the third set and the score was tied at 23-23 on a service error by Zakman. UPIKE found a way to win through on a kill by Tackett and ace by Ray.

Shawnee State controlled the fourth set, outhitting the Bears .107 to .000 as UPIKE had 10 kills and 10 errors. SSU took advantage, leading by as many as 10 points at 22-12.

It was 8-8 in the fifth set when UPIKE took over. It started with a 4-0 run and Shawnee never got closer than three the rest of the way. Leading 13-10, Pikeville closed out the match with two straight kills by Simpson and Jones.

UP NEXT

UPIKE hosts a tri-match on Saturday, starting out with Kentucky Christian at 11 a.m. ET at UPIKE Gym and ending with Tennessee Wesleyan at 3 p.m.

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