SAVANNAH, Ga. – Senior middle blocker
Kelly Rossip ripped a season-high 15 kills as the North Carolina Central University volleyball team had its best hitting performance of the season en route to a 3-0 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) win over host Savannah State University Sunday afternoon in Willcox-Wiley Gym.
The Lady Eagles kept the Lady Tigers winless on the season by hitting a sizzling .282 in taking the three sets by scores of 25-17, 25-16 and 25-20. NCCU (4-22 Overall, 3-5 MEAC) snapped a six-match losing streak with its last win before Sunday also coming against Savannah State (0-30, 0-9) on Oct. 4.
NCCU HIGHLIGHTS & STATS:Rossip smashed her 15 kills on 29 swings with only three errors for a .414 hitting percentage. Freshmen
Whitney White and
Sydney Sumner added eight kills apiece with hitting percentages over .400 as well.
Junior
Casey Curran set up the Lady Eagles attack with 31 assists on NCCU's 36 kills.
Defensively, senior
Marilyn Sherbondy and
Paige Phillips tallied 12 and nine digs, respectively. White and junior
Kelsey Murphy each provided four block assists.
SSU HIGHLIGHTS & STATS:Gabrielle Nathaniel led the Lady Tigers with eight kills, six digs and the teams only ace. Setter Caitlynn Masoe notched 25 assists.
SET-BY-SET:1ST: Savannah State jumped out to a 3-0 lead but NCCU quickly took over with an ensuing 13-1 run. The surge featured eight straight points on the service rotation of Phillips and concluding with five more points on the serve of freshman
Bree Simmons. Rossip tallied five of her six kills in the opener in the decisive rally.
2ND: NCCU won the first four points of the middle frame on Sherbondy's serve and never trailed. The Lady Tigers pulled within two at 11-9 before the Lady Eagles flew away with six consecutive points on Phillips serve again. Rossip blasted a half dozen kills for a second straight set and Sumner provided five of her eight kills in the period. NCCU scored 15 of its 25 points on kills and hit a staggering .379.
3RD: Savannah State kept the third set more interesting with 10 early ties, but with the scoreboard deadlocked at 12-all NCCU pulled away with another 6-0 run that included three of the Lady Eagles' five blocks on the day. Murphy teamed up with Curran on the first block and then worked in tandem with White for the other two rejections. NCCU stayed ahead and Rossip's 15th kill ended the match.
OTHER NOTES, STATS & FACTS: NCCU swept the Lady Tigers for a second straight season and moved to 10-games over .500 against Savannah State at 11-1 since NCCU started playing at the NCAA Division I level in 2007.
UP NEXT: NCCU will conclude MEAC regular season play with its final two home games next weekend. The Lady Eagles will host Florida A&M State on Friday and Bethune-Cookman on Sunday, which will also serve as Senior Day. For more information, fans are encouraged to visit
www.NCCUEaglePride.com.
