BOWIE, Md. – The Bowie State women's volleyball team went 2-0 day two of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Round-Up, defeating Johnson C. Smith, 3-1 and Winston-Salem State, 3-2 inside A.C. Jordan Arena.
The wins improved the Bulldogs overall record to 5-4 on the year and 2-2 in the CIAA.
Against the Golden Bulls of JCSU, Bowie State earned a four-set win (26-24, 25-18, 16-25 and 25-17). Graduate senior Kendal Hoges (West Orange, NJ) had a match-high 13 kills while junior Lindsey Grossman (Albany, OR) turned in 26 assists, 12 digs and 11 kills. Graduate senior Jailyn Ivey (Bowie, MD) recorded a team-high 14 digs to go along with seven kills while junior Neysha Washington (Winchester, VA) registered 11 digs.
Statistically, Bowie State held an advantage over Johnson C. Smith in points (68-51), kills (47-37), aces (10-9), blocks (11-5), assists (43-33) and digs (60-55). The win would be the Bulldogs first conference victory of the season.
In game two and the final match of the round-up, the Bulldogs and the Rams of Winston-Salem State split the first two sets with Rams taking set one (25-18) but BSU answered with a 25-20 victory in set two thanks to a .250 hitting percentage.
The Bulldogs claimed a 25-21 set win in the third frame and appeared to take the match in four but WSSU stayed within reach as the set went down to the wire tied at 21-all. Two miscues from the Bulldogs provided the Rams with a 23-21 lead, on the ensuing possession – Bowie State scored on a service error by the Rams but back-to-back kills by Sanaa Lanier gave WSSU the set win and tied the match at 2-2 forcing a fifth set.
In the fifth stanza, Bowie State reached eight points first thanks to three-straight points that featured two kills from Grossman. The Rams tied at eight-all on an attacking error by BSU but both teams would keep close to one another by trading 3-0 runs. Despite a 13-9 lead in favor of BSU, WSSU got within one capped by a kill from Lanier. After a Bowie State timeout, sophomore Kyznia Jessup (Woodbridge, VA) bombed back-to-back kills in stellar fashion to secure the set win and match victory for the Bulldogs.
Grossman finished with 16 kills, a new season-high 31 assists and 10 digs while Jessup recorded a career-high 15 kills on .333 hitting. Ivey added 13 kills and 13 digs while Washington accounted for 27 digs in the winning effort.
Bowie State returns to action Thursday, Sept. 29 versus Virginia Union at 6 p.m. in McKeldin Gymnasium.
For the most up-to-date information on Bowie State University Athletics and its 13 varsity sports teams, please visit www.bsubulldogs.com.
