The Talladega College men's volleyball team dropped a 3-1 road decision to No. 12 St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens, Fla. Friday afternoon. The Bobcats took the sets 25-17, 27-29, 25-15, 25-13. The loss dropped the Tornadoes to 5-7 on the season, while St. Thomas improved to 17-1.

Mallik Foreman led the way offensively for Talladega with nine kills and two service aces. Love-let Blake and Nkoya Williams-Bailey followed close behind with eight. Richard Hollomon III paced the Tornadoes with 13 assists.

Defensively, Blake had two solo blocks while Foreman and Elijah Foster had one each. Aleksander Sobik and Denzel Pepper each had three block assists. In addition to kills and aces, Foreman also led the Tornadoes with seven digs.

Talladega kept the first set close in the early going. The Tornadoes took a 7-6 lead on a Blake kill, but that was the final advantage Talladega had in the opener. St. Thomas went on an 8-5 run to take a 14-12 lead and extended from there. The Bobcats recorded 11 of the final 16 points of the set to claim it by a score of 25-17.

The Tornadoes answered in the second set. Much like the first, the two squads went back and forth to start the second. Talladega and St. Thomas found themselves in a 14-14 tie, but the Bobcats then took control. They put together a 6-2 streak to claim a 20-16 lead, but the Tornadoes were far from done. They claimed five consecutive tallies to take a 21-20 lead on a Hollomon service ace. St. Thomas had a set point opportunity at 24-23 but could not take advantage because of a service error. The two sides continued to battle until an Foster block and another error did the Bobcats in, this time on an attack, allowing Talladega to win the set 29-27 and even the match at a set apiece.

The No. 12 Bobcats showed their quality in the final two sets. St. Thomas raced out to a 5-0 lead to start the third. Talladega did battle back with a 6-2 run to bring itself within one, but the Tornadoes were unable to tie it at any point throughout the frame and eventually dropped the set 25-15. St. Thomas posted a .500 hitting percentage in the third, the best mark either team achieved in a single set. The Bobcats took a 7-1 lead to begin the fourth and never looked back, claiming the set 25-13 and winning the match 3-1.

Talladega takes a 13-day hiatus before the final weekend of the regular season. The Tornadoes head to Winston Salem, NC for matchups against St. Andrews University, Truett McConnell University and Carolina University on April 4 and 5, beginning with a 10:30 a.m. contest against St. Andrews on April 4.