Box Score North Carolina Central vs. South Carolina State

DURHAM, N.C. (www.NCCUEaglePride.com) - In spite of battling through 13 ties and five lead changes, the North Carolina Central University volleyball team could not overpower the Bulldogs of South Carolina State, who rallied to a three-set (25-23, 25-19, 27-25) win over the Eagles on Sunday, Oct. 16 in McDougald-McLendon Gymnasium.

The Eagles relied on the offensive efforts of freshman Dayanna Arrufat and senior Emanuelle Santos, who finished the contest with 14 kills and 10 kills, respectively.  Contributing to the offensive effort with 31 assists was sophomore Jzima-Malaki Kalao.  Senior Raven King added 13 digs to the defense, followed by Kalao who finished with seven.  Santos and senior Tasha-Gaye Richards round out the Eagles defensive leadership with three assisted blocks apiece.

NCCU put forth its best effort in the first and third set of the match.

In the set one of the contest, the Eagles and the Bulldogs tied on seven occasions beginning with a tie at the 6-6 mark.  The Bulldogs paced to an 8-3 run lead by Desire Waller, which forced NCCU to take a timeout.  SCSU continued to command the match, hitting another strong run to extend the lead to seven with a score of 19-12, forcing another NCCU timeout.

Timeout number two proved to the be the pep-talk needed for the Eagles as they returned to the court hammering three consecutive kills and one service ace, breaking the Bulldogs’ lead to two points and sending SCSU to sidelines for their first timeout of the set. 

The mighty maroon continued to turn up the heat with demonstrative kill from sophomore Kalin Russell and a service ace from freshman Ashley McCarthy to tie the set at 20 apiece.  Arrufat rattled the Bulldogs with a crowd-pumping kill for a one-point lead, 22-21.

SCSU requested their second timeout of the set to following Arrufat’s kill, which slowed the NCCU offense.  In the final points of the match, the Eagles committed three errors for the Bulldogs to seize a 25-23 set win.

After dropping the first set, the Eagles could not find their offensive edge as the squad hit .087 with seven kills and five errors on 23 attempts.  The Bulldogs took a slight decline in their offensive effort as well, with 12 kills and six errors on 27 attempts. Nonetheless, SCSU commanded the set and easily paced to 25-19 win without a single lead change or tie.

In the third and final set of the match, NCCU refueled its offensive fire refusing to end the match without a fight.  The two squads battled through three lead changes and six ties. 

NCCU and SCSU went point-for-point in the early points of the match until the Bulldogs were ahead 10-8 and went on a 12-7 run for a seven-point lead.  NCCU took their final timeout of the match to regroup, which once again proved successful, as the Eagles went on a 5-2 run with a score of 24-21 to put the pressure on SCSU. 

With only one point necessary, Arrufat fought to keep the Eagles in play driving four kills into the Bulldogs’ territory.  With score locked at 25 apiece, it was anyone’s set, but two final errors by Arrufat gave SCSU the points needed to seal the match with a score of 27-25.

Shabree Roberson led the South Carolina State offensive with 15 kills, while Desire Waller added 12 kills to the win.  Bulldog setter Bria Brimmer collected 33 of the 35 assists. 

On the offensive end, Waller dominated the front and back court with nine digs and five total blocks.

The Eagles will take a 14–day break to prepare for the second-half of the MEAC season beginning with a Sunday, Oct. 30 rematch against the Aggies of North Carolina A&T at 3:00 p.m. in Greensboro, N.C.

NCCU drops to 2-21 on the season and 2-3 within Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, while South Carolina State improved to 13-11 on the season and 4-0 in the MEAC.

Visit the official NCCU Athletics website www.NCCUEaglePride.com for up-to-date information on Eagle Volleyball.