PIKEVILLE, Ky. – Before this season, the University of Pikeville volleyball team hadn't recorded 10 wins in a season since the fall of 2018. On Friday night, the Bears moved to 10 games over .500 with a 3-0 win over Columbia (S.C.) College.
 
Much of that credit is due to their first-year Head Coach Kris Kern, whom they handed the 900^th win of his coaching career on Friday.
 
The Bears beat the Koalas by scores of 25-12, 25-21, 25-16 and ran their win streak to a season best five consecutive games.
 
"Those wins are thanks to a lot of very talented players through the years," said Kern, who added, "and to a coach who's thankful to have been around a long time."
 
UPike (13-3 overall, 5-3 in the Appalachian Athletics Conference) stormed out of the gate, scoring the first three points off serves from freshman Bella Blackburn. Five straight points came later in the set, as freshman Libero Lillian Carpenter served, pushing the lead to 10-4 en route to the win.
 
The Bears struggled in the second set. After building a 5-1 lead thanks to consecutive kills by freshman Lanie Hawley, UPike saw the Koalas score seven of the next eight points to take an 8-6 lead. The Bears scored the next five points, with four of them coming on Columbia errors.
 
Columbia (2-11, 0-9) got a kill by junior middle Destiny Brown to take an 18-17 lead before the Bears settled in. The set ended on a service ace by Hawley to win 25-21.
 
The third set went a little cleaner for UPike, which built a 20-8 lead. The Koalas mounted a late charge to pull within six at 22-16 before a timeout resulted in three quick points to end it.
 
Hawley led a balanced offensive attack for the Bears with 11 kills. Junior Yaricel Rodriguez had nine for the Bears as the team recorded 32 in the match. Seniors Daniela Hernandez and Cheyenne Martinez had five kills each, while Martinez recorded 22 assists.
 
UPike recorded 15 service aces, with Hawley serving seven of them.
 
Senior Kiara Warrens led the Bears on defense with nine digs.
 
The Bears will be back in action on Saturday morning when they host RV Columbia International University. First serve is set for 11 a.m. at the UPike Gym.