MILLIGAN, Tenn. – The University of Pikeville had a hitting percentage of .530, recorded eight service aces and had only five attack errors in a 3-0 win over Milligan University on Tuesday night.
The win ran UPike's winning streak to 16 and their record to 22-3 on the season, 15-0 in the league. Milligan is 4-15 overall, 4-11 in league play.
UPike's attack percentage was the best in a match this season, marginally better than last Friday's .529 in a win over Truett McConnell.
The Bears continued to spread the offense around evenly, as four players finished with 10 kills on the night. Seniors
Lanie Hawley and
Allyah Tokelau, junior
Olivia Chapman and sophomore
JLynn Risner all finished in double figures, while junior
Cassidy Rivas had eight.
Senior setter
Chloie Brinton, the nation's leader in assists per set, had 37 on the night.
Rivas had five of UPike's service aces while junior
Lyla Reed had two.
Defensively, Hawley had two blocks, one solo and one assist. Freshman
Baylee Moore had eight digs to pace the Bears.
UPike will remain on the road this weekend, traveling to Athens, Tenn., on Friday to play Tennessee Wesleyan. First serve is 6:30 p.m.
Bears 25, Buffs 12: The Bears move into control of the first set with a 7-1 run early in the frame. Risner had three kills and one by Brinton made the score 11-4. Behind the serving of Rivas, who had four service aces, the Bears got two kills from Tokelau to score the final eight points and win the first set.
Bears 25, Buffs 13: The teams battled early, much as they did in the opener. UPike led 12-10 before taking over with an 11-1 run. In it,
Lyla Reed had two service aces while Hawley, Rivas and Risner had two kills each to stretch the lead to 23-11. UPike had 19 kills and a hitting percentage of .581.
Bears 25, Buffs 16: After a remarkable hitting percentage in the second set, the Bears wrapped it up with a .704 in the final set. Milligan broke a 4-4 tie with three straight points to take an early lead before the Bears scored eight of the next nine points. Chapman had two of UPike's four kills in the run and another service ace by Rivas made the score 13-9. Leading 20-16, the Bears scored the final five points, with Chapman again having two kills, including the point to finish it.
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