Frostburg State University Athletics

SHEPHERSDTOWN, W. Va. – For the second consecutive day, the Frostburg State Volleyball team split their matches at the Shepherd Invitational, defeating Shaw 3-0 before falling to the hosts by the same score.
 
In the first match of the day against the Bears, FSU jumped out quickly to a 6-1 advantage, aided by four errors as well as a kill from senior Grace Yocham who also combined with sophomore Adele Evans on a block. Shaw eventually settled themselves down and worked their deficit down to three, however another trio of errors as well as freshman Gabrielle Morris joining Yocham on a stuff kept Frostburg up 14-8. The Bears rallied once more, putting down five of the next six points to get back within 15-13. FSU tried to pull away on three consecutive scores, with freshman Rhea Shetty serving an ace and sophomore Alliyah McNair earning a kill, but Shaw kept themselves rolling, using an 8-2 run to suddenly take a 21-20 lead. Morris and classmate Judy Steffens helped stopped the bleeding with a combo block that sparked the Bobcats just as they needed it, as Morris, McNair, and senior Maya Johnson went for three consecutive spikes to put the set away 25-21.
 
The sides began the second frame in a back-and-forth affair, as McNair got the Bobcats one point ahead before five straight from Shaw gave them an 8-4 lead. From that point, the rest of the set would be all Frostburg, as a serving error followed by McNair hitting an ace kicked off a seven-point run, flipping the lead to 11-8. The Bears tried to keep the score close with two of the next three but had no answer for FSU's attack, as McNair, Johnson, and Shetty all found the floor while Yocham and Morris turned away an attack to go up 16-10. Continuing to roll, Morris went for another pair of scores while Yocham had a kill and a solo block before ending the set herself at 25-13.
 
While Shaw took the opening point of the third set, Frostburg was sensing a match sweep, as McNair started a five-point run with a kill while senior Alyssa Stanton went for a pair of aces. The Bears again were able to keep things tight with the score at 8-6 before another Bobcat rally put them in control of the set. Junior Emery Kuebler started things with a kill, then after another from senior Raegan Philips, sophomore Bailey Rafferty did some major damage at the service line, nailing three consecutive aces before Morris and Johnson went for back-to-back blocks and a 16-7 advantage. Shaw put together a couple of scoring runs but never got closer than six points, as errors down the stretch and a kill from Morris led the Bobcats to a 25-14 set win and match victory.
 
McNair led FSU with seven kills on the day, as Yocham and Morris had four blocks apiece while freshman Miranda Ball aided the defensive effort with a match-high 16 digs.
 
Beginning the second match against the hosts, Shepherd netted the first three points before Johnson had a kill and Stanton served an ace to get Frostburg on the board. McNair provided the offense for the next three Bobcat points, keeping to within 7-5 before the Rams took command of the set, rattling off the next nine points to go up by 11. Continuing to be FSU's standout, McNair had a kill and ace either side of sophomore Pia White finding the floor, but Shepherd ran the score up to 21-8, eventually taking the set 25-13.
 
Johnson recorded the first score of the second set but the Rams came right back with six unanswered. Frostburg stayed afloat with Johnson going for a kill and ace, while Yocham and McNair added spikes to stay within 8-5. As they had done in the opening set, Shepherd went on another big run, this time taking 10 of the next 11 points to go up 17-7. The Bobcats tried to fight back, as freshman Kayla Greene got on the board, joined by Yocham, McNair, and Evans all finding the floor to put things at 19-13. Frostburg wouldn't manage another point in the set, however, as Shepherd netted the final six points of the set to win 25-13.
 
The sides were fairly even to start the third frame, as the Rams narrowly led by a point before Evans had kills either side of a combo block with Johnson to put FSU ahead 7-5. As was the case through the rest of the match, Shepherd's attack was too much for the Bobcats to handle, scoring eight unanswered as part of an 11-1 run to lead 16-8. Each team traded points through the next several rallies, with the Rams holding firm on their advantage to take the sweep at 25-15.
 
McNair and Johnson combined for 15 kills in leading the attack, as White and Kuebler netted 22 assists between the pair and Ball recorded another double-digit dig total at 13.
 
With the split, Frostburg ends their opening weekend at 2-2 and will next host the Bobcat Invitational beginning Friday, September 4 against Pitt-Johnstown at 1 p.m. Information and updates will be posted to frostburgsports.com.