PIKEVILLE, Ky. – UPIKE volleyball showed its resilience on Tuesday, coming back from the brink of defeat by erasing a 2-0 deficit to beat Asbury, 3-2 (14-25, 17-25, 25-14, 25-19, 15-12).

It marked the first time that UPIKE had come back from a 2-0 deficit since October 2015, when the Bears accomplished the same feat against Montreat.

Pikeville fell behind early after its defense had faltered, especially on serve receive. Asbury had all seven of their service aces in the first two sets.

But the Bears responded in the third set with authority, tightening up the defense while delivering an attack error-free set.

Noelani Simpson led the Bears with 18 kills, but made her presence felt even more on defense, with a career-high 34 digs as well. She was one of three Bears with double-digit kills on the night, with Trinity Warfield (11) and Yeryvel Catala (10) joining her.

Pikeville led for a majority of the third set and put it out of reach with a 5-0 run that built a 19-9 lead, bookended with kills by Catala.

The fourth set wasn't the prettiest by either side, but got enough on offense to couple with 12 Eagles errors to force the fifth set.

From there, the Bears refused to be denied with a .308 attack percentage in the final set. Despite UPIKE's strong offense, Asbury stuck around at a 9-9 tie. But then kills from Warfield and Simpson got the Bears back ahead, and Leigh Johnson converted a dump attack from her setter position to put Pikeville up by three.

Johnson had another smooth game as the setter with 44 assists, the fourth time she's had 40 or more assists in a match this year. She also tallied a season-high three kills.

Simpson then hit back-to-back kills to end the match and secure the win for the Bears.

UP NEXT

UPIKE volleyball continues its homestand and gets back to Mid-South action on Friday when it hosts Shawnee State at 7:00 p.m. at UPIKE Gym.

-UPIKE-