ALBANY, Ga.-  East Division #2 seed Savannah State began their quest for a Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament title with a 3-1 win over West Division #3 seed Central State in the opening round of the 2024 Cricket SIAC Volleyball Championships, Friday morning at the Jones Brothers HPER Complex on the campus of Albany State University.

The win for SSU was the first postseason victory for the Lady Tigers since the 2019 SIAC Championship, when Savannah State knocked off Central State, 3-2.

SSU loss the first set 19-25 but bounced back to win the next three sets in succession to advance to the next round with scores of 26-24, 25-21, 25-17.

The opening set was filled with runs. Central State scored the first four points while SSU responded with the next three points. The Marauders used a 5-0 spurt to go ahead 19-9 and Savannah State could get no closer than five the remainder of the set.

A kill by Jasmine Nettles gave SSU a 1-0 in the second set but Central State answered with three consecutive points. The Lady Tigers used a 5-0 run sparked by two kills by Aaliyah Saunders to go back in front 6-3. The set remained tight and featured seven ties with the last being at 24-24. Down 23-24, SSU finished the set with three straight points with two kills from Tiana Curry and one from Savannah Everett.

The Lady Tigers used a 8-0 run to break open the third set, thanks to six errors by CSU. The Marauders sliced their six point deficit to 23-21 with a 4-0 spurt but SSU closed out the set with a service error by Central State and a service ace by Amiyah Walker.

Savannah State used runs of 6-0 and 5-0 to put Central State away in the fourth set. The later spurt gave SSU  23-15 edge and a pair of errors by Central State vaulted the Lady Tigers to the win.

Nettles had a double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs while Curry also had a double-double with 20 assists and 10 digs to go along with her eight kills and .583 hitting percentage.

Everett chipped in 12 kills, Kloe Ludy had 11 digs, Saniaa Dickey had three digs, Walker had 14 assists, nine digs, three aces and two blocks and Saunders had five kills and  a .500 hitting percentage. Ayanna Klaibler-Norris added four kills, three digs and two blocks.

During the regular season, Savannah State swept the Marauders 3-0 on October 12 as part of the SIAC Crossover that was played in Memphis, Tennessee.

The win improves Savannah State's record 15-8 overall and The Lady Tigers will take on the winner of the match between #1W Spring Hill and #4E Clark Atlanta in the Semifinal Round on Friday afternoon at 4 p.m.

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