Albany, Ga. ^__ The Tuskegee volleyball team wrapped up its weekend at the SIAC East Crossover with a dramatic win followed by a tough loss on Saturday.

The Golden Tigers (6-4, 1-3 SIAC) opened the day by outlasting Clark Atlanta in a five-set thriller before dropping their finale to Allen in straight sets inside the HPER Complex.

Tuskegee 3, Clark Atlanta 2
Tuskegee's early match provided fans with one of the most entertaining battles of the crossover.

The Golden Tigers stormed out of the gate to take the opening set 25-21 behind crisp setting from Mikea Allen and timely kills from a group of Tuskegee hitters, who set the tone early with a series of hard swings from the middle.

The momentum carried into the second, where Tuskegee earned another 25-21 with a strong play from Zariah Messick, who had seven of the team's 16 kills in the set.

Clark Atlanta countered with back-to-back set wins, taking control in the third (25-22) and the fourth (25-22) with a string of service runs that kept Tuskegee on its heels.

Facing elimination, Tuskegee steadied itself in the fifth. Messick and Jordyn Jones came alive, combining for six kills in the frame, while Kayla Coleman and Breaunna Crawford added two kills each in the final set.

In the frame, Tuskegee built an early cushion at 8-6 behind a long service run from Chloe Edwards and never looked back, clinching the set 15-12 and the match 3-2.

Statistically, the win was fueled by career performances. Messick finished with 19 kills and 10 digs on a.395 hitting percentage, while Jones and Coleman with 11 kills each, followed by Crawford with ten.

Allen and Sahnee Dillahunt-Nedd combined for 47 assists and 24 digs, Edwards also played a pivotal role defensively with 14 digs.

Allen 3, Tuskegee 0
The evening matchup with Allen told a different story. After battling point-for-point through the early stages of the first set, the Yellow Jackets closed on a 10-3 run to win 25-18.

From there, Tuskegee struggled to regain its rhythm. Allen controlled the net in the second set, taking advantage of unforced errors and rolling to a 25-12 win. The third mirrored the second, with Tuskegee unable to string together long rallies as Allen secured a 25-14 result to complete the sweep.

Tuskegee leaves the crossover with a 1-3 record on the weekend and an overall 6-4 mark in league play. The Golden Tigers will look to build on the positives when they return to action next weekend in a SIAC Cluster hosted by Kentucky State.

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