JACKSON, Miss. - Stillman College women's volleyball guaranteed at least one team from Tuscaloosa will beat a team of Bulldogs this Saturday. The Tigers battled to their first five-set victory of the program's rebuild with a 3-2 win over Tougaloo College (18-25, 25-17, 23-25, 26-24, 15-7) to open Day 2 of the HBCU Athletic Conference Crossover.
Stillman (5-10, 4-3) ended up splitting the day. The Tigers have now won four of their last seven matches, following a 3-0 loss to HBCU West Division leader Dillard University (7-5, 5-1) in the Saturday night cap (25-16, 27-25, 25-18).
After losing the first set, Stillman opened the second set with a 5-0 lead and never let Tougaloo in front en route to the eight-point win. Tougaloo rallied from a 22-19 hole in the third set to win it, 25-23. However, it was the Tigers clawing back in the fourth set. Down 17-14, Eason delivered a kill to spark a 6-0 run to put Stillman on top, 20-17. The set was tied four times before kills by Manuel and Cameron forced the fifth set.
A service error broke a 5-5 tie in the fifth set, and Stillman closed the match on a 10-2 run to victory. Stillman's front line hit 100% in with eight kills from 15 error-free attacks in the final set.
As a team, Stillman had 48 kills, 43 assists, 12 service aces, 63 digs and scored 65 total points.
Lashundria Chatman had 10 kills for Tougaloo.
In the loss to Dillard, Cameron led Stillman with seven kills, while Manuel had six. Nelson posted 11 assists. Conley led the Tigers' defense with 12 digs
NEXT: Stillman will host a pair of games this upcoming week, beginning with Tuskegee University on Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 6 p.m. It will be Rep Your Student Organization Night. HBCUAC East Division leader Fisk University will visit Tuscaloosa on Friday, Oct. 4 at 6 p.m.
