FRANKFORT, Ky. – The Tuskegee volleyball team opened play at the SIAC Cluster hosted by Kentucky State with a dominant pair of sweeps, defeating Lane in three sets (25-18, 25-19, 26-24) before rolling past LeMoyne-Owen (25-13, 25-16, 25-11) at Bell Gymnasium on Friday.
Tuskegee 3, Lane 0
In the opener against Lane, Tuskegee's offense was led by Jordyn Jones and Sian Sprinkle, each with seven kills and seven combined blocks to pace the attack.
Setter Sahnee Dillahunt-Nedd led the team with 13 assists along with eight digs, while Mikea Allen added eight assists and eight digs of her own. Defensively, freshman Jasmine Brantley led with nine digs, as the team displayed balance on both sides of the net.
The Golden Tigers pulled away late in the opening set, turning a narrow lead into a 25-18 win behind a 15-9 closing run sparked by kills from Sprinkle, Jones and Najwa Williams.
The second set was the most dramatic of the match, as Tuskegee trailed 19-18 before rallying with a service run from Gabriella Jones and and a Lane attack error to seal it 25-19.
In the third, the Dragons fought back, forcing a back-and-forth battle to the end. Trailing 23-21, Tuskegee made a run to keep Lane at arm's length and sealed the sweep when Williams connected on her final kill of the match to secure a 26-24 victory.
As a team, Tuskegee hit .120 in the opening set and finished with 31 kills overall while limiting Lane to a .086 hitting percentage. Lane was led by Jadyn Powell with eight kills, while Shaniah Jones handed out 20 assists for the Dragons.
Tuskegee 3, LeMoyne-Owen 0
Tuskegee was efficient from start to finish, hitting .333 as a team with 38 kills compared to just 16 for the Magicians.
Williams turned in one of her best performances of the season, posting 12 kills on a .750 hitting percentage and four service aces to lead the attack. Zariah Messick added seven kills while hitting .375, along with three aces and 10.5 total points.
The Golden Tigers had 10 combined blocks, led by four from Gabriella Jones, while Jordyn Jones and Sprinkle both finished with five kills. Allen and Dillahunt-Nedd combined for another 25 assists, three aces and eight digs, while Jasmine Brantley anchored the back row with a team-high 11 digs.
The Golden Tigers took control early in the opening set, building a 12-7 lead and closing on a 13-6 run keyed by Williams and Messick at the net. In the second set, Tuskegee overcame an early 10-4 deficit by storming back with a 13-3 run that included a pair of service aces from Dillahunt-Nedd and back-to-back kills from Williams. Jones closed the frame with consecutive aces before a final attack error from LeMoyne-Owen to give Tuskegee a 25-16 win.
The third set was all Golden Tigers, as the team earned a match-high 16 kills on .542 hitting percentage in the frame while the defense held LeMoyne-Owen to .000 hitting. Tuskegee cruised to a 25-11 victory, punctuated by Messick's final kill of the night.
LeMoyne-Owen was led by Malani Duncan with six kills, while Maddelyn Ross added four kills and team-highs of eight assists and eight digs. The Magicians struggled offensively, finishing with a -.049 hitting percentage and just two total blocks.
Up Next
With the win, Tuskegee secured its third straight victory and its second 2-0 day in conference play this season. The Golden Tigers improved their record to 8-4 overall and 3-3 in the SIAC and will return to action on Saturday for day two of the SIAC Cluster in Frankfort to face Kentucky State at 11:30 a.m. ET and Central State at 2:00 p.m. ET.
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