PIKEVILLE, Ky. -- A tri-match hosted by the University of Pikeville volleyball team on Saturday allowed the Bears to run their winning streak to three by pushing past Kentucky Christian 3-1 before shutting out Tennessee Wesleyan 3-0 in UPIKE Gym.

As the rain fell outside, Noelani Simpson was dropping kills inside. The junior tallied 19 in the four setter against KCU (24-5) at a ,250 clip before adding eight kills in the finale. Against KCU, Cecelia Ray, Cassidy Tackett and Cassie Jones added nine kills each as the Bears outhit the Knights .206 to .141.

Savanna Zakman dished out 45 and 30 sets in the matches, respectively, while Natalia Gascot had 20 and 13 digs to pace the defense. Jones was huge at the net in the win over KCU, finishing with six blocks before Amari Eadie led the team with three in the three sets against Tennessee Wesleyan (6-22).

UPIKE (8-19) topped KCU by close set scores of 25-22, 31-33, 25-21 and 25-23 before sweeping Tennessee Wesleyan 25-10, 25-22 and 25-17.

The Bears dominated the attack in the second match at .247 to .041 as Tennessee Wesleyan had 21 kills and 18 errors, compared to 38 and 16 for the Bears.

In all three sets of the second match, UPIKE lost the lead just once at 7-6 in the second frame after Tennessee Wesleyan went on a 3-0 run. The Bears led by as many as 15 points in the match at 22-7 in the opening set.

It came close to being two shutouts for UPIKE as it led KCU 24-23 in the second set before giving up two straight points, forcing it to take the set past regulation. The Knights got to set point four times the rest of the way before finally taking the frame 33-31 on a kills by Avery Crum.

UPIKE hits the road on Monday, taking on Alice Lloyd at 7 p.m. ET in Pippa Passes.

-UPIKE-