BATON ROUGE, La. – Bethune-Cookman Volleyball notched its third consecutive Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) victory Friday evening as the visiting Wildcats defeated Southern University 3-1 at Seymour Gymnasium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Cats collected the win on a line score of 26-24, 23-25, 25-20, 25-14.
Trailing 24-23 in the opening set, Bethune-Cookman (7-11, 4-2 SWAC) took advantage of a Jordan Felix service error, as well as an
Ariel Simmons kill to surge ahead, 25-24. The final point was collected by the Wildcats'
Tiyanna Preston with a kill to seal the win. However, the Cats had led by as many as seven (20-13) in the frame with help from
Amya Jennings and Preston, accompanied by a ball-handling error from the Jaguars, respectfully.
Southern (6-12, 3-3 SWAC) got back into it the set on the strength of an 11-3 run as Najah Harris delivered a service ace, in addition to blocks from Felix and Sophie Diouf.
In the second set, the Jaguars hit just .095 in the frame, but B-CU was limited to a match-low .100 clip of its own. The Wildcats committed eight attack errors in the frame, while Southern also registered four service aces for the 25-23 win to even things up at 1-1 heading into the break.
Preston delivered four kills in the third set, and the Jaguars were forced into five set-errors as Bethune-Cookman quickly raced to an 11-4 lead. Setter
Melissa Gonzalez accounted for a kill. And it was Preston being joined by
Sierra Herndon and AJ Simmons for kills down the stretch that allowed the visitors a 19-13 edge late-on.
Consecutive kills from the Jaguars duo of Ariana Brown and Felix brought the hosts to within 23-18, followed by back-to-back service aces from Sereniti Johnson that closed the gap further, 23-20. But it would be the Wildcats' Preston placing a kill, while Southern's Johnson was credited with a bad set to close out the win for the Maroon and Gold in the frame.
The fourth set was all Wildcats as B-CU hit a match-high .265 with 13 kills on 34 swings.
Jennings collected four kills, with the combination of Herndon and Simmons tacking on three each as well.
Kaleigh Williams also had two blocks in the set as Bethune-Cookman cruised to the 25-14 win that moved the Wildcats to fourth place in the conference standings.
Southern was led on the night by Brown's 12 kills and nine digs. Diouf joined her in double figures with 10 kills and four blocks (three assisted). Setter Felix set up a match-high 28 assists. Meanwhile, libero Harris pulled in 19 digs.
As for the Cats, Preston reached double digits in kills for the eighth time this year – and her fourth consecutive match to boot, accounting for 11 kills, two assists and two digs. Matching her in kills was Jennings with 11, also her fourth consecutive match with double figures for kills.
Nola Hemphill delivered 17 assists. Herndon and Simmons each accounted for five block assists for the Maroon and Gold. And it was libero
Sthefany Carvalho collecting a match-high 20 digs – her fifth 20-plus digs match of the year.
Bethune-Cookman continues its road swing at Alcorn State on Sunday, Oct. 12, with a SWAC match in Lorman, Mississippi beginning at 1 p.m. ET (Noon CT).
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