JACKSON, Tenn. – The Talladega College women's volleyball team swept a pair of matches against Kentucky State University and Lane College at the Lane College Tournament to post a 3-1 tournament record and improve to 5-4 on the season. The Tornadoes won both matches 3-0 today.
Talladega is back in action on Tuesday when it hosts Fisk University at 3 p.m. and Rust College at 6 p.m.
Match One: Talladega 3, Kentucky State 0
Leading 4-1 in the opening set, Kentucky State (0-2) attempted to chip away at the lead but came as close as one twice. With the Tornadoes leading 7-6, they were able to put together a 14-3 run to break the set open. Kentucky State put together a 7-2 run of its own, but it wasn't enough as Talladega closed out the set on a 2-1 run to win, 25-17.
Kentucky State came out strong in set two as it took an early 6-1 lead, but that didn't last long as the Tornadoes used a 5-0 run to tie the set at six. Both teams went back and forth for most of the set as they were dead-locked at 16-16 until Talladega used a 9-2 run to close out the set and take it, 25-18.
The Tornadoes looked to close out the match in three as they took an 8-4 lead to start the third set. They put together a 5-2 run to push their lead to, 13-6. Talladega held onto its lead but Kentucky State slowly chipped away as it trailed, 20-13. Kentucky State was able to go on a 7-0 run to tie the set at 20 and then took its first lead of the match, 22-21. The Tornadoes used a 3-0 run to retake the lead 24-21 but a service error and an attack error by Talladega shifted the momentum to Kentucky State and made it, 24-24. An attack error by Kentucky State gave the Tornadoes the one-point lead and a kill by
Zyaire Prettie Garrit secured the win.
Talladega's Prettie Garrit led all players with 11 kills for the match while hitting a team-high .318. Teammate
Dominique Madarang finished with 15 assists while
Briyith Echeverri tallied 14 digs.
Match Two: Talladega 3, Lane 0
Tied 7-7 in set one, Talladega took the lead 11-8 following a 4-1 run. The Tornadoes from there never looked back even when the Dragons attempted to chip away. Talladega allowed Lane to score six points for the rest of the set as the Tornadoes went on to win, 25-14.
Trailing 4-1 in set two, Talladega was able to take the lead 5-4, but Lane (2-3) retook the lead, 7-5. Both teams went back and forth with Lane holding a 15-12 edge. The Dragons lead didn't last long as Talladega used a 13-2 run to close out the set 25-15 and go up 2-0 in the match.
Going into set three tied 5-5, the Tornadoes used a 7-1 run to break it open and go up, 12-6. Talladega pushed its lead to 22-16, but Lane used a 5-0 to come within one and make it, 22-21. The Tornadoes were able to take advantage of three errors by the Dragons to close out the set 25-21 and win the match.
Talladega as a team hit .312 for the match.
Prettie Garrit for a second straight match finished a game-high in kills with 13 while Echeverri recorded double-digits in digs again on the day with 13. Prettie Garrit hit .310 for the match.
Madarang tallied 14 assists while teammate
Giovana Costarelli finished with 12 assists.
Nedu Evans led Talladega in hitting as she hit .714 for the match.
