JACKSON, Miss. – The Talladega College women's volleyball team swept its two matches on Day Two of the HBCUAC Crossover hosted by Tougaloo College this afternoon. The Tornadoes picked up a 3-0 win against Dillard University and a 3-0 victory over Southern University at New Orleans.
With the wins, Talladega extends its win streak to four while improving to 12-6 overall and 7-1 in the conference.
The Tornadoes are back in action on Thursday, October 3 when they host Wilberforce University at 6 p.m.
Match 1: Talladega 3, Dillard 0 (25-11, 25-13, 25-20)
Talladega took an early 7-3 lead in the opening set, but Dillard attempted to chip away to cut the lead to, 10-7. Both teams traded points with the Tornadoes holding a 15-10 lead, but a 10-1 run by Talladega closed the set out with a 25-11 win.
Dillard (6-5, 4-1) struck first in set two to take a 1-0 lead but a 4-0 Tornado run made it 4-1. Dillard ended the run as it tallied back-to-back points to make it a one-point set. Talladega answered once again with another 4-0 run to push its lead to, 8-3. The Tornadoes after that kept Dillard at arm's reach as it never allowed Dillard to tally no more than two points in a row. The Tornadoes took the set 25-13 and went up 2-0 in the match.
Talladega looking to close things out in set three, but Dillard had other plans as both teams found themselves tied eight different times with the last one being at 10. The Tornadoes took a 12-10 lead but Dillard responded with a 4-0 run to go in front 14-12, its largest lead of the set. For the second time in the match, both teams traded points to end up knotted at 17. Talladega broke the tie with a 4-0 run to go up 21-17 and later went on to win 25-20 and take the match, 3-0.
As a team, Talladega registered 18 block assists with
Kortni Johnson having seven.
Josephine Gates led the Tornadoes in kills with eight and hitting percentage with a .462. Teammate
Re'na Ashley finished with seven kills of her own.
Nuria Santos finished with 15 of the team's 29 assists while tacking on six digs.
Briyith Echeverri paced the team in digs with 16.
Match 2: Talladega 3, SUNO 0 (25-10, 25-16, 26-18)
The Tornadoes wasted no time in the first set as it took a commanding 13-4 lead. A SUNO (1-12, 1-4) kill broke things up to make it 13-5 but Talladega used a 7-0 run to push the lead to, 20-5. SUNO used a late 3-0 run but a kill by Talladega's
Dyani Steward ended that to make it 21-8. The Tornadoes claimed the set with a 25-10 win.
Talladega once again jumped out to an early lead this time in set two with the Tornadoes going up, 8-1. SUNO was able to cut the lead in half following a 3-0 run, but the Tornadoes added a pair of points to make it, 10-4. SUNO put together a 5-2 run to trail by three, but Talladega answered with a 4-0 run to go up, 16-9. From that point on Talladega was able to keep SUNO away to win 25-16 and go up 2-0 in the match.
Talladega leaped to a 7-3 lead in set three, but a 3-0 SUNO run made it a one-point game. Both teams ended up tied at eight after SUNO chipped away at the lead. The teams traded points with the Tornadoes holding a 12-11 edge but they broke things open using a 5-0 run to go up, 17-11. SUNO threatened down the home stretch but Talladega was able to keep them away to win 25-18 and win the match at, 3-0.
The Tornadoes once again finished in double-digits in block assists with 12 while tallying two block solos.
Marcelly Perez led the team with five block assists and a block solo. She also led the team in kills with nine while hitting .538 for the match.
As a team, Talladega finished with nine aces with
Rhyan Clark leading the team with three.
Costarelli for the second straight match finished in double figures in assists this time with 17. Teammate Santos record 13.
