CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – University of Pikeville volleyball opened the 2025 season against IU-Southeast and Loyola (La.). The Bears made furious comebacks in both matches but came up short.
UPike is 0-2 with Friday's results. The Bears will be back in action on August 26^th when they travel to Williamson, W. Va., for a neutral site match against WVU-Tech. The match will begin at 6:00 p.m. at the Historic Williamson Fieldhouse.
 
Game 1: IU-Southeast 3, UPike 1
After going on a 6-0 run to go up 15-13 in the first set, the Grenadiers countered with 8-4 run to go up 21-19. Olivia Chapman recorded a kill to cut the score to one, but the Grenadiers scored the next four points and took set one 25-20.
The Grenadiers picked up where they left off in set two, scoring ten of the first 14 points. Later, the Bears trailed 18-13 then went on an 8-2 run to go up 21-20. Just like set one, however, IU-S used a late run and won the set.
UPike erased an early 4-0 deficit in set three with a 6-0 run. Later, the Bears held off a late IU-S comeback to send the match to a fourth set.
UPike and IU-S traded runs in the fourth set until the teams found themselves tied 15-15. Every time the Bears went on a run, the Grenadiers countered and would tie the score. The Bears went up 19-15, 21-19, and 24-24. The Grenadiers would go on to win set four by a score of 28-26 and won the game 3-1.
Gracey Lovgren led the Bears with 12 kills, followed by Cassidy Rivas with ten and nine from Lanie Hawley. Jordan Roberts had a team-high four serving aces. Newcomer Chloie Brinton led the Bears with 24 assists and 19 digs.
 
Game 2: Loyola (La.) 3, UPike 2
The Wolf Pack opened the match, scoring 11 of the first 15 points in set one. The Bears were unable to overcome the early deficit, and Loyola went up 1-0 in the match after winning set one 25-15.
Set two was a back-and-forth battle until UPike went on a run midway through the set. The Bears had multiple four-point leads, including a 22-18 lead late in the second. Loyola would take set two after going on a 7-1 run to take a 2-0 match lead.
Set three saw the Bears overcome multiple deficits midway through the set. Trailing 19-14, the Bears roared back with an 11-1 run to close out the set and cut Loyola's match lead to 2-1.
The Bears kept the momentum going into the fourth, scoring ten of the first 14 points. UPike was able to hold off multiple comeback attempts by the Wolf Pack to take the set 25-18 and send the match to a fifth set.
Loyola would use a 5-0 run in the fifth set to carry them to a 15-9 win the in the set and a 3-2 match victory over the Bears.
Lovgren led the Bears with 16 kills, followed by Hawley with 13. Lovgren and Hawley also finished with 6.0 and 5.0 blocks, respectively. Brinton had a game-high 43 assists and was second in digs with eight, behind Ashtyn Filkins who had 20.