SAVANNAH, Ga.- Savannah State picked up their first volleyball win of the season, 3-2 over visiting Middle Georgia State at Tiger Arena on September 18, 2024. It was also the Lady Tigers first home match of the young season.
 
SSU lost a close match to Middle Georgia State on September 10 and the rematch was also a close contest with the Lady Tigers pulling out wins by scores of 22-25, 25-22, 24-26, 25-16 and 16-14.
 
Savannah State trailed by seven in the first set before rallying to tie the set at 14. Tied at 17, MGSC went on a 5-1 spurt and held on to win by three.
 
The Lady Tigers raced out to a 11-4 advantage in the second set but allowed Middle Georgia State to pull within 17-16. Leading 23-22, back-to-back kills by Savannah Everett locked up the win for SSU to tie the match at 1-1.
 
Consecutive kills to open the third set by Tiana Curry and Everett helped SSU out to a 2-0 lead. The Savannah State advantage grew to 5-1 but the Knights rally to tie the set at six apiece. With the set tied at 22, MGSC scored the next two points to go ahead by two but Savannah State was able to score the next two points to tie the set at 24, thanks to kills by Everett and Mina Ezikpe. Middle Georgia State scored the final two points to win.
 
Savannah State scored the first six points of the fourth set. The Lady Tigers lead dwindled to 7-6 before a kill by Everett followed by a block by Ayanna Klaiber-Norris to give them a little breathing room. The Knights closed their gap to 10-9 but SSU answered with kills by Curry and Jasmine Nettles as they started to pulled away and tie the match at 2-2.
 
The fifth and final set started just like the third set with opening kills by Curry and Everett to give SSU a 2-0 lead. The Lady Tigers stretched their lead to 6-2 before Middle Georgia State was able to tie the set at 8-8. Down 13-11, the Knights scored three straight points to go ahead by one but Savannah State finished the set with consecutive kills by Everett, Nettles and Curry to earn their first victory of the season.
 
Middle Georgia State fell to 2-8 with the loss while Savannah State improved to 1-2.
 
Curry and Amiyah Walker had a double-double for SSU with Curry getting 13 kills and 19 digs while Walker had 25 assists and 20 digs.
 
Everett had a match-high 22 kills while Nettles added 14. Saniaa Dickey had four aces, Aaliyah Saunders had six blocks, Sydney White had a match-high 31 assists and Kloe Ludy had a team-high 22 digs.
 
Savannah State will travel to Albany, Georgia for the SIAC Crossover on September 20-21 where they will play matches with Kentucky State, LeMoyne-Owen, Lane and Tuskegee.