Volleyball embarks on four-match road swing
The Wiley College volleyball team will hit the road for four matches with three against Gulf Coast Athletic Conference teams from Thursday through Saturday.
The Lady Wildcats will play a tri-match at Talladega College – which is second in the GCAC – on Thursday. They will face the host Tornadoes at 2 p.m. and face Clark Atlanta University at 4 p.m. On Friday, Wiley College will resume GCAC play at Fisk University. The road trip will conclude on Saturday with an 8 p.m. match at Oakwood University.
Live video will be available for Thursday's matches on HBCU+ Channel 119. Friday's match will be on Fisk University Athletics YouTube Channel. Coverage for Saturday's match is unknown as of press time. The links will be available in the volleyball schedule on wileyathletics.com.
The Lady Wildcats (1-6, 1-1 GCAC) are coming off a split in their opening two conference matches – sweeping Tougaloo College and falling in four against Rust College. Rejinah Hickman put up 26 kills in two matches. LeAndria Jackson tallied 25 assists which helped her surpass 1,000 for her career. She is the fourth Lady Wildcat to accomplish that feat. She also had four service aces. Nadia Cortez put up 29 digs in her first two conference matches. She added three aces.
Talladega (8-6, 3-1 GCAC) won their last two GCAC matches against Rust College and Fisk University. It fell in its most recent matches against Columbia International University and Truett McConnell University on Saturday. The Tornadoes have three players ranking in the top five in kills per set. Zyaire Prettie Garrit leads the conference with 2.97 per set and with a .232 hitting percentage. Kiana Polk is third in the conference with 2.44 per set but leads with 122 kills. Re'na Ashley is fourth in the GCAC with 2.32 kills per set and is second with 116 kills.
Nedu Evans is third in the conference with 0.87 blocks per set. Briyith Echeverri ranks fourth in the conference with 3.71 digs per set. Giovana Costarelli is second in the conference with 4.86 assists per set. The Tornadoes are in their first season under LaShunda Spurgeon, who led Dillard University to the regular season GCAC title.
Clark Atlanta (2-3, 1-1 SIAC) competes in the NCAA Division II Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. It is coming off a split of its opening conference matchups. Shynique McGee leads the Lady Panthers with 35 kills. Allanah Drayton-Campbell leads in assists with 67 and in aces with six. Sanaa Simmons has 49. Nakayla James leads in digs with 52. Dahlia Williams is the top blocker with 14 (6-8).
Fisk University (3-9, 1-2 GCAC) has lost eight of its last nine matches it competed in – including a five-set loss to Talladega College and a three-set loss at Dillard University. The Lady Bulldogs' only GCAC victory was a forfeit over Southern University of New Orleans.
Jadyn Brackins leds the GCAC with 4.59 digs per set and is second with 170 digs. Iyanla Thigpen is second in the conference with 1.05 blocks per set. Nephthys Re is fourth in the conference with 4.16 assists per set.
Oakwood University (2-2, 0-1 GCAC) fell in three sets in their conference opener at Dillard University, which extended their losing streak to two matches.
The Lady Wildcats only matchup against Talladega came in 2011 which they won in a sweep. Last season, Wiley College split its two matches against Fisk University – falling on the road on Oct. 1 and winning at Dillard University on October 16. The Lady Wildcats were victorious in both meetings against Oakwood.
For more coverage on the Lady Wildcats visit https://wileyathletics.com/sports/wvball/index
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