ORANGEBURG, S.C. — South Carolina State showed improvement as Saturday's match progressed, but Bethune-Cookman held off the Bulldogs for a 3-0 victory in women's volleyball action at Dukes Gymnasium.
The Wildcats won the match 25-6, 25-17, 25-22. South Carolina State fell to 3-11 overall, while Bethune-Cookman improved to 4-6.
After a difficult opening set, SC State settled into the match and produced its best offensive performance in the second frame. The Bulldogs recorded 14 kills in the set and hit .108 while battling through eight ties and three lead changes.
Carra Pierre-Louis provided a spark with six kills in the second set alone, while
Amani Hawkins added three.
The Bulldogs carried that fight into the third set and put themselves in position to extend the match. SC State built an early 9-5 advantage behind service aces from
Jordan Dalland and
Chloe Neal and later held leads of 18-16, 20-18 and 21-19. Bethune-Cookman responded late, using a 5-0 run to turn SC State's 21-19 advantage into a 24-21 lead before eventually closing out the set 25-22.
Pierre-Louis paced the Bulldogs offensively with a team-high eight kills, while
Kenna Harris,
Hedia Lewis and
Taelyn Graham finished with four kills apiece. Graham was particularly efficient, committing no attack errors on five attempts for a team-best .800 hitting percentage. De'Oni McPhearson added three kills while hitting .286.
Arianna James and
Kiyla Mighty directed the offense with 11 and 12 assists, respectively. Defensively, Dalland collected a team-high eight digs, while
Ki'ra Wright added seven and Neal finished with six. SC State totaled 31 digs and three team blocks.
The Bulldogs finished with 26 kills and 26 assists. One of the encouraging signs came in their ability to side out more effectively as the afternoon progressed. SC State improved from a 24% sideout rate in the opening set to 50% in the second and 60% in the third.
Bethune-Cookman was led by Alaya Rhodes, who finished with 10 kills, 11 digs and 13 points. The Wildcats hit .299 as a team and finished with 34 kills, 35 digs and nine team blocks.
Despite the setback, SC State's progression throughout the match was evident, particularly in a competitive third set that featured six ties and two lead changes before Bethune-Cookman made its final push. Saturday's match lasted 1 hour, 17 minutes before an announced crowd of 200 at Dukes Gymnasium.
