UPIKE Athletics

BLUEFIELD, Va. – It was quite a night for Lanie Hawley.
 
The senior from Burlington, Wisc., had 13 kills on only 15 attacks, a percentage of .867, to lead the Bears to a 3-0 win over Bluefield (Va.) University on Tuesday night.
 
The Bears won by scores of 25-17, 25-10 and 25-11.
 
Junior Cassidy Rivas, the reining attacker of the week in the AAC, swung 20 times and recorded 10 kills of her own as the Bears improved to 10-3 on the season and remained unbeaten in three league matches.
 
Bluefield fell to 3-6 and is winless in three AAC contests.
 
The kills recorded by Hawley and Rivas – 23 of their team's 35 – came courtesy senior setter Chloie Brinton. The nation's leader added 29 more assists to her total on the night.
 
The Bears added six service aces on the night, getting two each from Hawley and junior Olivia Chapman.
 
Brinton led the Bears on defense with nine digs, while freshman Baylee Moore added six. At the net, Hawley had a solo block and two block assists, while Chapman and Allyah Tokelau had two block assists each.
 
The Bears will remain on the road this weekend, beginning on Friday when they visit Barbourville to take on Union Commonwealth at 6:30 p.m.
 
Bears 25, Rams 17: The serving of Brinton got the Bears out to a quick 3-0 lead, as the Bears scored on a block, a kill and a service ace. Bluefield charged back to lead 10-7 before the Bears scored the next five points thanks to a Hawley kill and service ace and two kills by Rivas. She had two more kills in a 5-1 run to push the score to 24-16.
 
Bears 25, Rams 10: Much like the first set, UPike opened with four straight points off Brinton's serve, getting two on kills and two off attack errors. Unlike the first set, there was no Bluefield rally. Leading 5-2, the Bears went on an 11-2 run, as Hawley had four kills in the outburst. The Bears closed it out with three straight, the final two off serves by senior Lillian Carpenter.
 
Bears 25. Rams Leading 5-4, UPike got some breathing room with an 8-0 on the serve of Carpenter, who had a service ace to go with a pair of Hawley kills as it ran the score to 13-4. As soon as that run ended, the Bears scored five of the next six, with Rivas recording three kills. The night ended with consecutive kills by Hawley off sets by Brinton.