The Talladega College men's volleyball team dropped a five-set decision to Bluefield University
25-20, 22-25, 25-22, 21-25, 21-19 in Kingsport, TN
. The Tornadoes were eliminated from the Appalachian Athletic Conference tournament with the loss, while the Rams advanced to the semifinals.
Offensively, Talladega was led by
Nkoya Williams-Bailey and
Mallik Foreman with 11 kills each.
Love-let Blake added 10 kills for the Tornadoes.
Elijah Foster posted 20 assists, while Richard Hollomon III shared setting duties with 17 helpers.
On the defensive end, Foreman led with 13 digs while
Andrea Tognazzo tallied 12. Blake and Foster each swatted solo blocks, and
Aleksander Sobik had four block assists.
The Tornadoes and Rams split the first 20 points of the opening set. After that 10-10 tie, however, Bluefield tallied the next three to take a lead it would not relinquish. Talladega pulled to within two on three separate occasions (15-13, 16-14 and 17-15), but could not get any closer, eventually falling 25-20. The Tornadoes managed a .360 hitting percentage in the first set, but the Rams topped them with a .452 mark.
In the second set, Bluefield sailed to a 5-1 lead, but Talladega struck back. The Tornadoes racked up seven of the next nine points to take an 8-7 lead. They extended that lead to 15-10 after scoring seven of the 10 subsequent points, five of which came on errors by the Rams. Bluefield was not done, however, as it went on a 7-0 run to take the lead, 17-15. Three consecutive Talladega points put the Tornadoes ahead again, and the squads eventually found themselves in a 20-20 tie. Talladega closed the set with a 5-2 run, taking the frame 25-22, despite converting on just six kills. The Tornadoes were aided by nine attack errors by the Rams, who managed just a .051 hitting percentage.
Talladega took a three-point lead twice in the early going of the third set, both at 4-1 after a Blake ace and 6-3 after a Williams-Bailey kill. The Rams responded, tying the frame at nine. Back and forth play saw neither team take a lead larger than three points for the rest of the set. The final tie came at 22, but the Rams converted three straight points to triumph 25-22 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Tornadoes had early success in the fourth set as well, racing to an 8-4 lead. The advantage remained four at 12-8 after another Blake service ace. The Rams pulled to within one at 13-12 and 14-13, but two Bluefield errors and a Williams-Bailey ace grew Talladega's lead back to four at 17-13. As had been the pattern, the Rams were not done, taking their first lead of the set at 19-18 and another one at 20-19. The Tornadoes picked up seven of the final nine points, thanks to five Bluefield errors and kills by Williams-Bailey and Sobik, to claim the set 25-21 and tie the match at two.
In the decisive fifth set, it was Bluefield who dominated early. The Rams took a 10-6 and found themselves five points from victory. The Tornadoes, however, tallied five in a row to take an 11-6 lead. Ties at 13-13, 14-14 and 15-15 followed. Blows continued to be traded until Bluefield's Mason Lloyd converted two consecutive kills to win the set 21-19 and the match 3-2 for the Rams.
Talladega finished its second season in program history 8-8 overall after securing its first over .500 regular season, and 7-9 in conference play.
