TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Talladega College women's volleyball team picked up its second win of the season as it downed Stillman College 3-0 tonight on the road. The Tornadoes are now 2-3 on the season while Stillman falls to 0-4 on the year.
The Tornadoes took an early 10-4 commanding lead in the opening set but Stillman scored the next two points to make it a four-point difference. That would be the closest the Tigers would come before
Nedu Evans and
Mahalynn Sawyer scored the next three points for Talladega, leading the Tornadoes to a 25-15 win and 1-0 in the match.
Talladega opened up the second set with a 2-0 lead taking advantage of a Stillman setting error followed by a kill from
Re'na Ashley. The Tigers were able to cut the lead in half off an attack error by Ashley to make it, 2-1. The Tornados used a 5-1 run to go up 7-2, but the Tigers were able to put together a 5-2 run of their own to make it 9-7 Talladega. Both teams would go back and forth with the Tornadoes holding the lead but Stillman came within one when they cut the lead to, 14-13. Talladega used an ace and took advantage of a bad set from Stillman to go up, 16-13. After that, both teams tallied a point each with Talladega still in front 17-14 before
Kenya Glenn added an ace and Ashley registered back-to-back kills to make it, 20-15. A 5-3 run closed out the match for the Tornadoes to take a 2-0 lead going into the third and possible final set.
Stillman used a 3-0 run to take a 3-1 lead in set three, but that lead didn't last long as Talladega tied it 3-3 but a service error by the Tornadoes put the Tigers back in front, 4-3. Talladega used a 4-0 run to take its second lead of the set and go up 7-4 but the Stillman was able to score the next two points to make it, 7-6. The Tornadoes after that scare went on a 12-4 run to go up 19-10 and then went on to cruise to a 25-13 win to close out the match.
Kiana Polk led the Tornadoes in kills with 10 while teammates Evans and
Josephine Gates each tallied seven kills. Ashley finished with eight kills herself.
Talladega registered 10 aces as a team, with
Dominique Madarang finishing with a team-high three. Teammates Evans, Polk, and Glenn each finished with two aces apiece.
Glenn also finished with a match-high seven digs among all players.
The match was a homecoming for Talladega head coach Lashaunda Spurgeon, a 2013 Stillman College graduate. It was her first match as a volleyball head coach on the same court where she played her collegiate career. Spurgeon was also a conference champion track & field athlete.
The Tornadoes will be back in action this weekend when they take part in the Lane College Dragon Classic that starts on Friday. Talladega will face Dillard in a Gulf Coast Athletic Conference match and Winston-Salem State on Friday. On Saturday, Talladega will meet Kentucky State University and host Lane.
