COLUMBUS, Miss. – The Stillman College volleyball team captured its first win of the season as the Tigers defeated the United States Sports University Eagles in straight sets, 3-0. Stillman lost the second match of the day, 3-0, to the hosting Mississippi University for Women Owls on Saturday afternoon.
The Tigers now sit at 1-6 on the season, while USSU fell to 0-6, and MUW improved to 2-5 after sweeping the day.
Stillman 3 (25-14, 25-19, 25-17), USSU 0
Raine Patterson led the attack with eight kills on a .538 attack percentage.
Katelyn Lawson and
Paige Eason followed with five kills, while
Domineshia Jones and
Ava Cameron each posted three kills.
Kelis Conley passed 10 assists, and Jones posted nine assists.
As a team, the Tigers finished with a .215 attack percentage with 27 kills on 79 total attacks, while limiting USSU to a .033 attack percentage.
Zoey Sales finished with 16 digs, and
Gracie Fjeldstad tallied 10 digs.
Stillman opened with a 4-1 run before the Eagles closed the gap to 8-7. However, the Tigers took over from there and pushed to a 23-11 after a kill by Eason. Another kill by Eason and a bad set from Cecillia Craig helped Stillman claim a 25-14 victory in the opening game.
The second set featured 19 ties and lead changes. Stillman took control once and for all after a service ace from Sales pushed the score to 15-14. The Tigers scored 10 of the next 15 points in the set, capped by a
Shelby Morris service ace, to clinch a 25-19 set victory.
The final set saw USSU capture a 3-1 lead early, but a five-point rally helped the Tigers seize a 6-3 advantage, capped by a Sales service ace. The Eagles scored three consecutive points to tie, but Stillman responded with eight straight to take a 14-6 lead. From there, the Tigers controlled the final set until a Craig service error helped to clinch the 25-17 set win and the first match win for Stillman this season.
MUW 3 (25-18, 25-10, 25-19), Stillman 0
Ava Camerson posted a team-leading six kills, followed by five kills from
Raine Patterson, while
Katelyn Lawson,
Paige Eason, and
Domineshia Jones all posted three kills.
Erin Nelson passed eight assists, and Jones posted seven assists.
Zoey Sales and Jones both led the back row with six digs.
The Owls opened with a 7-1 advantage before Stillman closed the gap to 8-4 after an attack error by Skye Letson. The Tigers got within two points at 13-11 after an MUW service error, but the Owls built a steady lead to win the opening game 25-18.
MUW once again started strong with a 4-0 edge until Cameron smashed a kill to get Stillman on the board. The Owls maintained a sizable advantage with the last Tiger point being a kill by Lawson to move the score to 23-10, but MUW pushed forward with a 25-10 set victory.
In the final game, Stillman struck first with a kill from Lawson. The Tigers led 7-4 after a kill from
Brianna Moore before the Owls chipped away at the lead to push to a 19-12 advantage. Stillman battled to cut the lead to three at 21-18, but MUW closed the contest with a 25-19 win in the third set.
Stillman College returns to action Monday, Sept. 15, in Birthright Alumni Hall at 6 p.m. against NCAA Division II opponent Miles College.
