PIKEVILLE, Ky. – Amari Eadie hosted a block party for the University of Pikeville volleyball team and Rio Grande was not invited as she sent back nine herself as the Bears out-blocked the RedStorm 19-2 overall on their way to a 3-0 win in the home opener at UPIKE Gym.

While neither team was stellar on the attack, UPIKE ended up on the better side there as well, outhitting Rio .129-.034 as a team. Cassidy Tackett had a lot to do with that, sending down eight kills at a .294 clip. Noelani Simpson struggled at times to get the ball down, but still ended up with a solid outing of seven kills.

Savanna Zakman orchestrated the offense the best she could in a match that got sloppy at times with multiple free balls. She still ended up with 21 assists while also collecting six kills, including the match winner in the third set.

Rio Grande got eight kills from Aleah Pelphrey but little else. In fact, they hit just -.115 as a team in the second set, allowing UPIKE to lead by as many as 11 points at 21-10.

The Bears cruised in the first two sets as they also rushed out to a 10-3 lead in the opener before winning 25-16 on an ace by Brooke Pickler, one of 16 hit by the team on the night.

Only in the third set did the Bears face some adversity as the RedStorm built a lead as large as seven points at 14-7. They were still up at 20-17 when UPIKE decided to go to work on serve.

With Cecelia Ray rocking serves across the net, UPIKE scored seven straight points to take a 24-20 lead. Included in that run were four aces by Ray. Rio finally ended the run when Ray had a service error, but it only took one point for a kill by Zakman to end it.

UP NEXT

UPIKE hits the road next Tuesday to take on Kentucky Christian at 6 p.m. ET in Grayson, Ky.

-UPIKE-