The Talladega College men's volleyball team dropped a 3-0 road decision to Webber International University in Babson Park, Fla. Thursday afternoon. The Warriors took the sets
25-16, 25-18, 26-24. The loss dropped the Tornadoes to 4-6 on the season.
Love-let Blake led the way offensively for Talladega. The freshman racked up 10 kills, tying Blake's career high mark which he set on February 21 against St. Thomas. Fellow freshman
Nkoya Williams-Bailey added eight kills in his second career game. Richard Hollomon III recorded 17 assists for the Tornadoes, the sophomore's second-best mark of the year.
Defensively,
Mallik Foreman and Blake both had solo blocks.
Aleksander Sobik and Williams-Bailey added two block assists each. Meanwhile,
Andrea Tognazzo led the Tornadoes with seven digs.
The first set began with the two squads splitting the first four points. Talladega then scored three of the next four to take a 5-3 lead. That was the final advantage the Tornadoes would have in the opener, however. Webber went on an 8-2 run to take an 11-7 lead. The Tornadoes pulled back within two points on five different occasions throughout the rest of the set, but ultimately fell 25-16.
Talladega again started quickly in the second set. The Tornadoes scored six of the first 10 points and the two squads were knotted at eight through 16 points. The Warriors pulled away in the middle of the set, thanks in-part to a to a .241 team hitting percentage throughout the set.
The Tornadoes took a 3-1 lead at the start of the third, and ultimately final, set. An 11-5 Webber run gave the Warriors a 12-8 lead as they looked to close out the match, but Talladega did not go quietly. The Webber advantage was also four points at 20-16, then again at 24-20, but Talladega fended off four match points to tie the set at 24. The Warriors, however, notched the next two points and took the third set 26-24, sweeping the match 3-0. Williams-Bailey notched four of his eight kills in the third set. The Tornadoes had a .346 hitting percentage as a team in the third set, the best either squad managed in an individual frame.
Talladega remains in Florida Friday, making the trip to Lake Wales for a matchup against Warner University. The Tornadoes and Royals do battle at 7 p.m. in the second of Talladega's three-game weekend trip to the Sunshine State that ends Saturday in Miami Gardens against St. Thomas University.
