Volleyball comes up short against Tougaloo College
TOUGALOO, Miss. - Wiley University volleyball players Shyla Starks and Rachelle Santos recorded double-digit kills, but it wasn't enough for the Lady Wildcats to overcome Tougaloo College in a four-set loss (25-17, 27-29, 25-13, 25-20) Friday in a Historically Black Colleges and Universities Athletic Conference (HBCUAC) match at Kroger Gymnasium.
Starks posted a career-high 18 kills for her fifth double-digit kill match of the season and 11th in her career. Santos posted 10 for her first double-digit match of the season. Wiley outscored Tougaloo 41-36 in kills but the Lady Bulldogs were more efficient in hitting with a .229 attack percentage to the Lady Wildcats' .120. Wiley made 27 hitting errors with 10 on blocks by Tougaloo.
Maria Luiza Chaves recorded a career-high 30 assists while adding four service aces. Nadia Cortez led the team with 13 digs. T'aja Hardy followed with 11. Madisyn Moore returned to the lineup after missing the two previous matches and tallied a solo block and a block assist. Jae Jemmott recorded a solo block and Cortez provided a block assist.
The Lady Wildcats (2-12, 2-8 HBCUAC) took a three-point lead in the first set on kills by Hardy and Starks and a service ace by Cortez. They made four receiving and two attacking errors, which allowed Tougaloo to score seven unanswered points. A kill by Santos and an ace by Chaves cut the margin to 13-11. Six errors led to a nine-point run by the Lady Bulldogs which sealed the first set.
Wiley trailed 24-22 in the second set, but an attack error by Tougaloo extended the set. Starks tied it with a kill. A service error had the Lady Wildcats facing set point, but Starks tied it with a kill. Wiley staved off two more set points. Moore tied the set at 27 with a kill. Jemmott put down two kills to even the match.
The Lady Wildcats were unable to continue the momentum in the third set. They only put down six kills and made eight attack errors. Tougaloo had six kills and only made three errors in 15 attempts.
Two kills by Santos and a block by Moore gave Wiley a 9-5 lead in the fourth set. It led until it committed a service error and two attack errors. Three kills by Tougaloo put the Lady Wildcats into a 21-17 deficit. Starks got two kills to cut the deficit in half. A service error, a receiving error and two kills let the Lady Bulldogs clinch the match.
Wiley will head to Talladega College for its second HBCUAC Pod. It will face Oakwood University on Friday, the host Tornadoes and Stillman College on Saturday morning.
For more coverage on the Lady Wildcats visit Women's Volleyball Home - Wiley University (wileyathletics.com)
About Wiley University Athletics
Wiley University sponsors 12 varsity sports, women's volleyball, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's indoor track and field, men's and women's outdoor track and field and baseball. It competes in the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Athletic Conference (HBCUAC) and the Continental Athletic Conference for men's and women's soccer.
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