TALLADEGA, Ala. – The Talladega College women's volleyball team opened up day one of the HBCUAC Crossover with a 3-0 (25-10, 25-23, 25-15) victory over Philander Smith University tonight. With the win, the Tornadoes extended their winning streak to four and picked up their 11^th conference win of the season. Talladega is now 17-7 on the season and 11-1 in the conference while the Panthers fall to 13-17 and 9-8 in the HBCUAC.

Talladega wasted no time in the opening set as it jumped out to an early 7-1 lead. The Tornadoes then pushed their lead to 13 to take a 17-4 lead before the Panthers tallied back-to-back points to make it, 17-6. Talladega closed out the set on an 8-4 run to win 25-10 to take the first set.

Both teams found themselves tied six different times in set two with the last one being at nine, but a Panther kill allowed them to take a 10-9 lead. The Tornadoes responded with a 6-0 run to go in front, 15-10.  The teams traded points for most of the set with Talladega holding the edge at 17-16 but back-to-back points allowed the Tornadoes to gain some insurance and go up, 19-16. Talladega used a 4-2 run to go up 23-18, but a 5-0 run by the Panthers tied things at 23. Talladega took advantage of a Panthers error and a kill from Taquoia Rounds to win 25-23 and go up 2-0 in the match.

Looking to close things out in set three, Talladega took a 4-0 lead, but it didn't last long when both teams found themselves tied at seven. A 4-2 Tornado run put them back in front 11-9, but Philander Smith took the lead off a 3-0 run to go up, 12-11.  The Panthers built off their lead to go up 14-12, but Talladega answered with a 9-0 run to go in front, 21-14. The Tornadoes closed the match out on a 4-1 to win 25-15 and take the match 3-0.

Briyith Echeverri paced the Tornadoes with 13 digs over three sets. She was joined by Giovana Costarelli who tallied a double-double with 25 assists and 12 digs while Rounds finished with 11. Rounds also added nine kills.

Echeverri and Costarelli each finished with an ace.

Re'na Ashley finished the match with a team-high 13 kills while hitting .524 for the match.

Talladega is back in action tomorrow at 9 a.m. for day two of the HBCUAC Crossover when it takes on Wiley University.