PIKEVILLE, Ky. – The University of Pikeville volleyball team picked up a win in the school's first-ever contest in the Appalachian Athletics Conference on Thursday night, beating Kentucky Christian University 3-2.
 
This is the first season for UPike in the AAC after spending 22 seasons in the Mid-South Conference.
 
The Bears dropped the first set 25-21 before rallying for wins by identical scores of 25-15 and 25-15. KCU evened the match with a 25-18 win in the fourth before the Bears finished it with a 15-8 win in the finale.
 
The win made the Bears 4-0 overall this season, equaling the win total the team had during the entire 2022 season. They'll go for their fifth straight win on Saturday morning when they host Johnson (Tenn.) University at 11 a.m. in another AAC contest.
 
The Bears opened the contest strong, and when senior Cheyenne Martinez recorded a kill off an assist by senior Emily Short, they led 11-6. But the Knights rallied, scoring six of the last seven points and winning on a UPike service error to take the first set 25-21.
 
UPike charged out of the gate to start the second set, scoring the first three points en route to a 5-1 lead after a KCU ball-handling error. The Bears led by as many as eight points (18-10) after a kill by freshman Lanie Hawley and won 25-15.
 
The third set was close early, with the Bears holding a 17-15 lead after a service ace by KCU's Lyndi Starkey. But the home team scored the final eight points, getting four on kills by Martinez, and finished it off with a kill by Hawley to win 25-15.
 
KCU wasn't dead yet. After the Bears opened the fourth set with a 2-0 lead, the Knights rallied to take a 3-2 lead. And while it was tied at 3, they never trailed again in a 25-18 win to send the match to a decisive set.
 
The Bears scored the first two points of the fifth set on KCU attack errors and never trailed. Match-ending kills by Ayende and Martinez finished it off by a score of 15-8.
 
Rodriguez led the Bears on offense with 22 kills. Ayende followed with 14 as the Bears totaled 56 kills in the win. They also had eight service aces, with Martinez recording three and Rodriguez and Ayende posting two each.
 
Martinez had a career-high 47 assists in the win.
 
Junior Marianne Negron was credited with the only solo block of the game on the defensive side. Senior libero Kiara Warrens led the Bears with 17 digs in the match, followed by Ayende with 12.