(THE PICKET) – After a shaky season opener on Friday, Rams fought back to win two consecutive matches on Saturday, Sept 5., in the Spike Out for Hunger Challenge at Winston-Salem State University. Shepherd Rams now hold fourth place in the Mountain East Conference standing with a record of two and one, behind Fairmont State, West Virginia State and U.Va.-Wise.
Rams started off Saturday at 9 a.m. with a match against Chowan State, winning three sets to one. Shepherd started the match carrying all the momentum, winning the first set 25-16, with 12 kills on the set. Chowan State took the second set 25-19, narrowly edging out the Ram’s eight kills with nine kills of their own. In the third set, no one could control the momentum of the game, as the lead shifted 26 times. The Rams and Hawks battled to the last point, when the Rams came out victorious, regaining the lead. The Rams controlled the momentum in the fourth set, winning 25-18. Shepherd had overall control of the whole match, leading in points, kills, aces, blocks, assists and digs, putting their first win in the books for the 2015 season.
For their third game of the tournament, the Rams faced the Tuskegee Broncos. The Rams swept the Broncos winning in three sets. Shepherd won the first set with a close score of 25-22 with 13 kills. The second set easily favored the Rams, with a score of 25-15. Shepherd kept the third and final set interesting with a nail-biting score of 25-23. The Rams were superior in every statistic for this match as well, with the outstanding 22 blocks, to Tuskegee’s three.
Shepherd ends the tournament with their heads held high and a two game win streak, with a two and one record over all. The Ram’s next game is Sept. 11 at 2 p.m. at Wayne State University.