Petersburg, VA – Bluefield State University Volleyball went 3-1 at the CIAA Round Up on Saturday and Sunday, taking down Winston-Salem State, Livingstone and Johnson C. Smith.
Game One vs. Shaw 0-3 L (12-25,11-25,11-25)
The Big Blue were led by Allyson Martin with six kills and Jannice Lynch adding four. Kateryna Dashevska had 15 assists with Martin contributing 19 digs.
Game Two vs. Winston-Salem State 3-0 W (25-21, 25-18, 27-25)
The Big Blue opened game two with back-to-back kills from BriShaela McHaney and Kateryna Dashevska to take the early lead. The Big Blue took the six-point lead midway through the set after scoring three consecutive points. The Rams attempted a late rally but an ace from Dashevska secured set one for the Big Blue.
A kill from Lindsey Neal started the second set, but the Rams scored four consecutive to take the lead. With the score tied at five, a kill from Dashevska and an Ace from Aydan Dalak put the Big Blue up by two. The Big Blue scored three late in the set to extend their lead 21-16. The Rams pulled within three, but the Big Blue scored the final four points of the set (two kills from Dashevska, one kill from Martian and an ace from Karlee Rae Hill) to take set two 25-18.
The Rams jumped out to an early 18-13 lead in the third set, but the Big Blue bounced back late in the set to even the score at 22. The Rams had a kill of their own to go up by one, but a kill from McHaney tied the score 23-23. The score was tied at 24 and 25 before two big kills from Lynch and Imani Stokes got the victory for the Big Blue.
Game Three vs. Livingstone College 3-0 W (25-17, 25-21, 25-17)
Both teams battled in the first set with the score being tied 13 times before the Big Blue pulled away. A kill from Lynch sparked a six-point scoring run top put the Big Blue ahead 22-16. A kill from Livingstone broke up the run, but a kill from Martin and McHaney and an ace from Hill captured set one for the Big Blue.
The Big Blue carried that momentum into set two a had a 13-8 lead midway through the set. Livingstone would rally late in the set to pull within three (24-21) but could not overcome to deficit set by the Big Blue.
A kill by Lynch put the Big Blue ahead 14-10, but Livingstone answered with three to pull within one of the Big Blue. After a timeout, the Big Blue would go on to outscore Livingstone 11-4 to earn the three-set victory.
Game Four vs. Johnson C. Smith 3-2 W (22-25, 24-26, 25-16, 25-19, 15-4)
After dropping the first two sets of the match, the Big Blue came back to win the last three sets to take the win over Johnson C. Smith.
The Big Blue started set three with six consecutive points to take the early lead over the Golden Bulls. The Big Blue extended their lead later in the set to 14-4. The Golden Bulls had a five-point run late in the set, but the Big Blue scored the final three with an ace serve game point from Gabrielle Money.
The Big Blue, determined to force a fifth set, scored the first five points of set four. The Golden Bulls pulled within one midway through the set, but the Big Blue came out of a timeout to extend their lead 17-11. A game point kill from Martin forced a decided set.
The Big Blue dominated set five, only allowing the Golden Bulls to score four to the Big Blue 15. In the fifth set, Stokes, Lynch, and Lindsey Neal all came away with kills in the deciding set.
"We are really proud of this group for their overall effort this weekend. We had a rough start after our first game with Shaw. They are a really good team, but our kids didn't let that stop them from stepping up the rest of the weekend" said head coach Savanna Hammond. "Our pins did a really good job of being available and executing. Our Defense did a good job of staying urgent and makign great defensive plays. This weekend shows that we have the opportunity to be a strong contender when tournament time gets here. There are a lot of good teams in this conference and this showed us some thigns we have to work on and get better as we move forward into conference play."
Up Next
The Big Blue will travel to King University Tuesday, October 3rd at 7 p.m.
