RICHMOND, Ind. -- UPIKE volleyball continued its strong start to the weekend Friday with two wins over Crowley's Ridge and Boyce to begin the Quaker Classic.

The Bears began the night with a 3-1 victory over the Crowley's Ridge Pioneers (23-25, 25-18, 25-14, 25-22) and finished with a 3-0 sweep of Boyce (25-9, 25-13, 25-8). With the two wins, UPIKE moved back to .500 on the year at 7-7.

Bears vs. Crowley's Ridge

After picking up the win a day prior, the night didn't start the way Pikeville hopped, dropping the first set to the Pioneers in narrow fashion, 23-25. The set was much of the Bears own demise as UPIKE committed 12 errors in the set.

However, that didn't rattle the Bears as they went on to dominate the next two sets to take the match lead. From set two on, Pikeville's service game stepped up with 11 aces in the last three sets. Across the entire match, Noelani Simpson and Hunter Clewis each had four of the team's 12 aces.

Simpson once again led the team in kills with 15, but Cassie Jones and Mikayla Frye each had an efficient offensive match as well. Jones had 10 kills on 25 attacks, while Frye had six kills on just 10 attacks.

The fourth set was the only one that UPIKE led from the early goings and they held that lead through the end of the match to take the victory.

Bears vs. Boyce

That momentum continued into the latter of the two contests for Pikeville on the night as Boyce was no match for the Bears.

It was a near perfect match for UPIKE. The Bears had a .493 attack percentage with only five errors in the entire match. No single Bear had more than one error.

Hunter Clewis had the best match of her still young UPIKE career with a season-high 13 kills. Pikeville spread the love around on offense against Boyce with eight different Bears registering a kill. Megan Frazier also had a night to remember, earning seven kills on just 10 error-free attacks.

Brooke Pickler made her presence felt with some strong serves as she tallied a team-high three service aces.

Up Next

UPIKE has two more matches at the Quaker Classic on Saturday. The first at noon against IU Southeastern, then again just after the conclusion of the first match against Indiana Tech.