JCSU volleyball defeated Elizabeth City State (3-2), but lost to Virginia State (3-0) on two occasions during the 2013 CIAA Championship Tournament
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Petersburg, VA - The Johnson C. Smith University women's volleyball team upset the number three seed out the CIAA Northern Division, Elizabeth City State with a 3-2 (18-25, 26-24, 25-22, 23-25, 15-7) victory on Sunday, November 10th in the opening round of the CIAA Championship Tournament hosted by Virginia State University in Daniel Gymnasium. Unfortunately, JCSU started and ended the day of pool play with 3-0 losses to Virginia State and suffered elimination.
Junior hitter Jane Tukia (Tempe, AZ) and senior hitter Sabrina Johnson (Columbia, SC) led the attack for the Golden Bulls in their first match against the Lady Trojans. Tukia had a match-high 12 kills, followed by Johnson with nine kills and seven digs. Senior setter Kayla Bazemore (Fayetteville, NC) produced 24 assists and a season-high 15 digs.
Virginia State managed to pull out a three-set sweep (25-21, 25-12, 25-23) to advance to the winner's bracket of competition. Aubree Parker and Dierdre Carter paced VSU with 12 and 11 kills, respectively.
The Golden Bulls moved on to face Elizabeth City State in their second contest of the afternoon. The Lady Vikings jumped out to a quick 25-18 win in the first set, only to fall to the JCSU 26-24 in set two. Johnson C. Smith held on to the momentum in the third set to secure the 25-22 victory and gain a 2-1 advantage in the match.
Elizabeth City State refused to go down without a fight and clinched the fourth set 25-23 to force a deciding fifth set. The Golden Bulls were able to catch rhythm and grasp a 15-7 win in set five. Junior hitter Imeshia Jones (Reidsville, NC) led the way for JCSU with 17 kills while Bazemore notched 40 assists.
The Lady Vikings were led by Rosetta Becerra who led all players in the match with 20 kills in the loss. Krystal Sawyer had 45 assists for ECSU. The loss ends Elizabeth City State's season with a 10-11 record and eliminates them from the CIAA Tournament.
JCSU advanced to take on Virginia State for a second time. The winner would advance to the semi-finals of the CIAA Tournament held in Winston-Salem, NC.
Virginia State made their 25-17 victory in the first set look routine against the Golden Bulls. JCSU battled back in the second set before falling 25-22 to the Lady Trojans, who had the support of their home fans. A 25-20 win in the third set for VSU clinched them a spot in the CIAA Tournament on November 16th at Winston-Salem State University.
The Golden Bulls conclude their season with a 14-16 overall record and 8-8 mark in the CIAA. JCSU competed in their first postseason conference contest since 2008 this year.
"I wish we could have gone further this year, but I'm very proud of what we accomplished this year as a team," said JCSU head coach
Mark Raley. "Our goal is to continue to progress and we took a few steps forward this season."
