SAVANNAH, Ga. – The Savannah State University women's volleyball team battled through five sets Wednesday evening but came up short against Clark Atlanta University, falling 3-2 (17-25, 25-10, 25-23, 16-25, 5-15) in Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) action on Cancer Awareness Night inside Tiger Arena.
Playing their second home match in two days, The Lady Tigers (4-18, 3-12 SIAC) rallied from an opening-set defeat to capture the second and third frames before the visiting Lady Panthers (15-7, 7-6 SIAC) responded to claim the final two sets and secure the conference victory.
Clark Atlanta opened the evening with a 25-17 victory in the first set, using a strong offensive attack and a six-point service run by Jayanna Shannon to build a commanding advantage.
Savannah State responded emphatically in the second set, dominating the Lady Panthers 25-10 to even the match at one set apiece. The Lady Tigers jumped out to an early advantage and extended their lead to 17-5 behind strong serving, timely blocking and several Clark Atlanta attack errors. Savannah State limited the Lady Panthers to a negative .100 hitting percentage during the frame.
The third set proved to be the most competitive of the evening, featuring 12 ties and two lead changes. Savannah State established a 21-16 advantage before Clark Atlanta rallied to even the score at 21-21. The teams traded points down the stretch before Iyonna Pike delivered a crucial kill to give the Lady Tigers a 24-23 lead. Amiyah Walker followed with the set-winning kill, lifting Savannah State to a 25-23 victory and a 2-1 match advantage.
However, Clark Atlanta regained momentum in the fourth set, using a decisive scoring run to pull away for a 25-16 victory and force a fifth and deciding frame.
In the final set, Savannah State remained competitive early, taking a 4-3 lead following a kill from Makendra Cassell. The Lady Panthers responded with seven consecutive points to take control at 10-4 before eventually closing out the match with a 15-5 victory.
Cassell led Savannah State's offensive efforts with eight kills on 15 attempts and just one error, finishing with an impressive .467 hitting percentage. She also contributed two solo blocks and three block assists.
Pike and Harmony Flagg added eight kills apiece, while Faith Woods contributed six kills and three total blocks.
Walker turned in another solid all-around performance, recording 30 assists, 16 digs, five kills and one service ace. Lela Curry added nine assists, 12 digs and a team-high three service aces.
Defensively, Hope White paced the Lady Tigers with a match-high-tying 22 digs, while Mya McCall added 11.
As a team, Savannah State finished with 42 kills, 40 assists, 75 digs, 11 service aces and nine total blocks.
Clark Atlanta was led by Sawyer Arbuckle, who recorded a match-high 16 kills and 10 digs. Kai Harris followed with 13 kills, while Antonique Coleman contributed nine kills and 10 block assists. Sydney Ray directed the Lady
Panthers' offense with 45 assists.
The Lady Panthers finished with 53 kills, 80 digs and 16 total blocks while hitting .163 for the match.
Despite the setback, Savannah State demonstrated resilience throughout the contest, particularly during its dominant second-set performance and hard-fought third-set victory.
The Orange & Blue continues their homestand next Tuesday, October 26th as they will host Benedict for Student Organizations Night: Greek Night/Student Appreciation Night. First serve is slated for 6:00pm inside of Tiger Arena.
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