In the first set, the Lady Cougars (13-5, 0-2 AMC) jumped out to an early 12-5 lead as junior right-side hitter Courtney Springer buried three kills and sophomore middle hitter Jackie Albrecht (left) added a pair. The lead was still 19-13 following another kill by Albrecht, who had five kills in the set.

Then, the visiting Lady Bears (19-0, 4-0 AMC) began to chip away at the lead. With MVNU holding a 23-20 lead, Shawnee State rattled off four straight points to serve for set point at 24-23. A kill by freshman middle hitter Gina Porto helped the Lady Cougars knot the score at 24-24, but the Lady Bears were able to side out and score another point to take the set 26-24.

Shawnee State led from start to finish in the second set after scoring the first point and then building a 9-4 cushion early on. Trailing 14-9, MVNU scored six of the next seven points to tie the score at 15-15.

The Lady Bears broke a 17-17 deadlock with four straight points to go in front 21-17. From there, Shawnee State held at least a two-point margin the rest of the way as the Lady Bears went on to take the set 25-21.

With their backs against the wall, the Lady Cougars came out strong in the third set and led from start to finish with as big as a 10-point lead at one point as MVNU cruised to a 25-18 victory to force a fourth set. Albrecht led the way with eight kills in the third set, while junior setter Kaylin Austen handed out 15 assists as the Lady Cougars pounded 18 kills in the set while hitting at a .370 clip.

In the fourth set, MVNU once again took control of the set early and built a 21-14 advantage before holding on for a 25-21 win to send the match to a fifth and deciding set. Springer hammered six kills in the set, and sophomore middle hitter Sarah Yutzy also added five kills.

The fifth set started promising for the Lady Cougars with a kill by Albrecht. After Shawnee State scored two points, the teams traded side outs with the score knotted at 3-3. At that point, the Lady Bears rattled off eight straight points to build a commanding 11-3 lead. That would prove to be a big enough lead for Shawnee State as they went on to post a 15-8 victory to take the set and the match. The victory extended the Lady Bears school-record 19-match winning streak to open the season and also gave them the most wins in the NAIA.

Albrecht finished with a career-high 25 kills, five blocks, and 17 digs, while Springer (right) pounded 15 kills with three blocks and 21 digs. Porto and senior outside hitter Audrey Hickinbotham both added 11 kills apiece, and Austen handed out 57 assists to go with 10 digs. Sophomore defensive specialist Caitlin Myles registered 11 digs, while Yutzy tallied eight kills.

“We were not consistent at all in the back row tonight,” said MVNU coach Paul Swanson. “I always tell the team that whichever team wins the battle of the back row will win the match. Tonight was a prime example of that as (Shawnee State) definitely out-played us in the back row. They served up 10 aces to just two by us and we had nine serving errors to just five for them. We did a better job in the third and fourth sets, but we have got to improve in that area.”

“We need to take this loss and move on from it,” Swanson continued. “There are plenty of teams in this conference who are capable of beating us, and we need to come ready to play every night. We have to realize that even though we are 0-2 in conference play right now we can still win the conference title. However, we have to start right now to play more consistent in all aspects of the game.”

The Lady Cougars will get another shot at that so far elusive first conference victory on Thursday when MVNU will travel to Notre Dame College for an AMC match that will start at 7:00 p.m.