ATLANTA, Ga.- Playing the second leg of their four-game road swing, the Savannah State volleyball team traveled to Atlanta, Georgia to play Clark Atlanta on October 13 in Epps Gymnasium. The Lady Tigers put up a good fight but would lose 3-2 in five sets (18-25, 25-18, 16-25, 25-18, 12-15).
The loss drops Savannah State to 11-8 overall and evens their Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference record at 7-7.
Allena Norton led SSU with 17.5 points followed by
Destinee Langston who had 14 and
Tiana Curry who scored 13.
Destiny Gaines and
Kloe Ludy scored three points apiece for the Lady Tigers while
Jessee Grubesic and Aaliyah Mitchell had one point each and
Tori Lasley had .5 points.
In the first set, SSU trailed by three but used a 4-1 surge to tie the set at 10-10. Clark Atlanta answered as they built a 17-12 lead but the Lady Tigers were able to slice their deficit to two by scoring three straight points. However, they could not get any closer.
Savannah State returned the favor in the second set as they evened the match with a win. The set was knotted at 7-7 but SSU answered with a 5-1 run. Clark Atlanta could get no closer than five points down the stretch.
SSU led 6-1 in the third set but the Panthers put together a strong run which allowed them to tie the set and eventually take the lead. Midway in the set, SSU was down by three but a rally by CAU resulted in Savannah State falling behind by as many as nine points.
Just like in the previous set, the Lady Tigers jumped out to a large lead in the fourth set, 7-1. Clark Atlanta put together a strong comeback as they pulled within 17-16 but Savannah State ended the set with a 8-2 run which allowed SSU to win and tie the match at 2-2.
The fifth set was tied at 5-5 but CAU reeled off five straight points to go ahead 10-5. Although Savannah State was able to get within 14-12 by using a 7-4 run, they could not pull out the win.
Norton led Savannah State with 15 kills and three blocks. Langston added 11 kills, 3 aces and 8 digs. Curry also had 11 kills along with 2 aces. Grubesic had 36 assists while Mitchell had 19 digs and Ludy had 14.
Clark Atlanta (13-7, 10-3 SIAC) was led by Shynique McGee (28 kills), Dahilia Williams (8 blocks), Allanah Drayton-Campbell (29 assists) and Nakayla James (26 digs). Williams and Kennedy Strickland had 2 aces each.
Savannah State will be back on the road to take on Edward Waters on Oct. 16 for a 6 p.m. match.
