MARIETTA, Ga. ---- The Life University women's volleyball team earned a pair of Mid-South Conference victories over the weekend in 3-0 fashion. The Running Eagles defeated the University of Pikeville 3-0 on Friday and Shawnee State University 3-0 on Saturday to improve to 13-5 overall and 5-2 within MSC play.

On Friday, Lena Pucnik led the way offensively for the Running Eagles with 14 kills and a hitting percentage of .500. Taylor Parrish added 32 assists as Marin Black led the way defensively with 16 digs. As a team, Life U set another program record with 13 service aces as Black and Alia Dorland finished with four. 

Life U finished the first set against the Bears on a 7-0 run to win 25-13. Trailing 11-9 in the second set, the Running Eagles used an 8-0 run to overpower Pikeville in a 25-17 victory. In the third set, Pikeville led early. Life U battled back as the two teams traded points near the end of the set. Pucnik sealed the sweep for the Running Eagles with back-to-back kills for the 25-22 victory. 

Life U led Pikeville in every statistical category. The Running Eagles held a 39-22 advantage in kills, a 13-3 mark in aces and an 8-1 lead in blocks.

The Running Eagles continued the road trip with a match at Shawnee State on Saturday. Pucnik again paced Life U offensively with 13 kills and hit .417. Parrish finished with 36 assists and both Zykeria Allen and Black totaled 10 digs. 

Both teams battled for the lead in the first set, as Life U held on for a 25-23 win with Pucnik recording the final kill. The second set saw the Running Eagles lead by as many as 12, 24-12, before a late Shawnee State Run. Morgan Furness recorded the final kill to give Life U the second set 25-15. In the third set, Life U used an 8-1 run in the middle of the set to lead 15-7. Allen picked up the final kill of the match to give the Running Eagles the 25-17 victory.

Life U finished with a hitting percentage of .330 and led Shawnee State in kills 41-30. The Running Eagles held a 7-2 advantage in blocks and a 10-6 lead in aces over the Bears.

The women's volleyball team will return to action on Thursday, October 3, as they travel to Williamsburg, Ky. to face the University of the Cumberlands in MSC action at 6 PM.