BOWLING GREEN, Ky. –
Game 1 vs. Blue Mountain (Miss.)
The first official contest for UPIKE's 2019-20 academic year was a rousing success thanks to UPIKE volleyball's 3-1 season opening victory against Blue Mountain (Miss.) on Friday morning.
After letting a lead slip away in the first set, UPIKE settled in nicely in the second set with a match-high .333 attack percentage in a 26-24 set victory.
Senior Noelani Simpson got the momentum kickstarted for the Bears with four of the team's first five kills in the set, helping Pikeville build a 10-2 lead. BMC did its best to steal a second straight set, but Simpson and freshman Trinity Warfield slammed the door shut with three straight kills to tie the match at one set apiece. Warfield had a solid collegiate debut as one of the team's primary middle hitters with eight kills on 20 attacks with three blocks as well.
The third set became the Megan Frazier show, as the sophomore from Betsy Layne High School showed off her offseason work with five straight kills in the beginning of the set. Frazier had 16 kills in the match, crushing her previous career high.
UPIKE dominated the third set 25-15, but outside of Frazier's attacking it was a defensive show for the Bears, who held the Toppers to a -.029 attack percentage in the set. Simpson (24), sophomore Leigh Johnson (17), and junior Brittany Reels (14) each recorded double-digit digs for the Bears.
In addition to her digs, Johnson also had a strong performance in her first match in a Pikeville uniform, complete with 44 assists and helped out on three of UPIKE's six blocks.
The fourth and final set was filled with long rallies, but Pikeville was able to find enough offense left in the tank to take the set 25-23, capped off by Simpson's match-high 24th kill to secure the victory for the Bears.
Game 2 vs Florida College
The second game of the day was a nailbiter throughout with UPIKE within striking distance all night, but Florida College walked away with the 3-1 win.
Neither team won a set by more than two points all night and there was rarely a lead of more than five points. A vast majority of the night's offense went through two players: UPIKE's Noelani Simpson and Florida College's Victoria Trueheart.
The two nearly combined for half of the match's kills and Simpson came up just one kill short of her career high of thirty.
UPIKE led late in each of the first three sets but was unable to land the finishing blow in the first two. The Bears actually outhit the Falcons in each of the first three sets, but Florida's serves were a strong point throughout the match, with 13 aces to the Bears' eight.
UP NEXT
Pikeville finishes up the weekend with another doubleheader tomorrow, beginning at 10:30 ET against Montreat, then again at 3:30 ET against Brescia in Bowling Green.
-UPIKE-
