SAVANNAH, Ga.- Savannah State University dropped its final volleyball match of the 2023 season to the Yellow Jackets of Allen University in Tiger Arena on November 1, 2023 by a score of 3-1.
 
SSU had a good effort from the team but came up short. The Lady Tigers won the opening set 25-19 but Allen bounced back to take the next three sets with scores of 14-25, 19-25, 12-25.
 
Before the match, Savannah State honored their five seniors: Destiny Gaines, Tori Lasley, Destinee Langston, Sydney Harvill and Dorothea Ruffin.
 
In the first set, with the score knotted at 10, SSU began to pull away with kills by Ruffin, Langston and Allena Curry to pull ahead 17-13. Allen was able to get within 19-17 but Savannah State finished the set with a trio of kills from Norton and one by Jessee Grubesic to earn the win.
 
A kill by Norton gave SSU a 1-0 lead in the second set and another kill Norton would tie the set at two. Allen would respond with four straight points during a 5-1 run to put them ahead 7-3. Savannah State would get down 9-6 but a 4-0 run combined with a pair of 3-0 runs by Allen was too much for the Lady Tigers to overcome.
 
Savannah State led 16-12 in the third set but then went cold as the Yellow Jackets squeezed out a 10-1 spurt to go in front 22-17. Back-to-back blocks from Grubesic and Gaines drew SSU within three (19-22) but Allen closed out the set with three straight points to take a 2-1 edge in the match.
 
The fourth set was similar to the previous set. A block by SSU's Ruffin tied the set at 4-4 but the Yellow Jackets (13-13, 6-11 SIAC) responded by reeling off three consecutive points. Savannah State was able to recover and tied the game at 8 and again at 11, following a kill by Norton. However, Allen caught fire and finished the set with a 14-1 run to win the match.
 
SSU's seniors played well in their final match. Gaines had 4 kills and a block; Lasley had 1 kill and 2 digs; Langston had 8 kills and 1 assist, Harville finished the day with 13 assists and 6 digs while Ruffin ended up with 6 kills, 2 blocks and a dig.
 
Match leaders for Savannah State were Norton (17 kills, 2 aces and 2 blocks), Curry (2 aces and 13 digs), Grubesic (26 assists), Kloe Ludy (30 digs) and Aaliyah Mitchell (3 assists and 13 digs).
 
Myra Lopez had 29 digs for Allen while Kayla Chambliss (22 assists, 2 aces), Marlaysia Westbrook (4 blocks), Taylor Lawrence (4 blocks, 10 kills), Jayla Neely (2 aces) and Maliyah Spencer (10 kills).
 
The Lady Tigers end their season with a .500 record at 12-12 while going 8-11 in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The 12 victories matched a school record that was set last season.
 
Savannah State failed to make the 2023 SIAC Volleyball Championships, after qualifying in 2019, 2021 and 2022.
 
However, several SSU players set new school records this season. Norton had 327 kills, Grubesic had 702 assists ad Ludy had 501 digs.