ELIZABETH CITY, Nc. — Bowie State (7-9) (5-6 CIAA) lost to Elizabeth City (9-15) (6-5 CIAA) State 3-2 on Monday, with set scores of 25-19, 14-25, 22-25, 25-20 and 10-15. The Bulldogs won the opening set and forced a fifth by taking the fourth 25-20. BSU finished with 14.5 total blocks, while Elizabeth City State held advantages in kills, digs and service aces.
To begin the match Elizabeth City State moved within 4-3, Payton Swinton and Abena Asomani-Martin combined on a block to start a six-point BSU run that included kills by Swinton and Gabrielle Hale for a 10-3 lead. Elizabeth City State cut the margin to 15-13 with help from two Cameron Mitrovich kills, a Jazzmyn Davis kill and a Kendall Washington ace, but the Bulldogs answered with a Taylor Johnson ace to move back ahead 17-13. BSU pushed the lead to 22-15 on a Hale block and a Swinton service ace, then reached set point on Johnson's kill. After Elizabeth City State fought off set point, a service error gave the Bulldogs the opening set, 25-19.
Elizabeth City State scored the first four points of the second set, getting kills from Mitrovich, Nnea Williams and Golden Brown before Johnson put BSU on the board with a kill from Hale. The Bulldogs used block points involving Asomani-Martin, Swinton and Amara Pope to stay within 8-5, but Elizabeth City State built a 16-8 lead before Swinton answered with a kill. Elizabeth City State followed with five of the next six points to go ahead 21-10, and after kills by Pope and Spring Terry helped BSU reach 22-13, Elizabeth City State closed the set 25-14 on a Bulldogs attack error and a Washington service ace.
In the second set, the Bulldogs rebuilt the margin behind kills from Johnson, Terry and Pope, then pushed the lead to 15-10 with two Anacius kills around an Elizabeth City State attack error. Elizabeth City State later scored five straight points to pull even at 16-16, and after Anacius briefly put BSU back in front, the home side moved ahead 19-17 on a Mitrovich kill and a Cagla Aslan ace. The Bulldogs tied the set at 19-19 on kills by Swinton and Pope and stayed within one as late as 23-22, but Elizabeth City State took the final two points on back-to-back Washington kills to win the set 25-22.
BSU created separation early in the fourth set, turning a 4-2 edge into 7-2 on a block by Terry and Anacius, a Johnson service ace and Terry's kill from Hale, then stretching the margin to 12-5 with a Bracey Gross ace and blocks involving Pope, Terry and Hale. Elizabeth City State cut into the set after the Bulldogs led 15-8, scoring four straight points that included kills by Washington and Williams, but Johnson's kill from Hale stopped that stretch and BSU continued to answer through Anacius and Swinton. After the Bulldogs moved ahead 21-18 on an Elizabeth City State bad set and a Washington attack error blocked by Pope, Elizabeth City State got within 21-20 on a BSU service error and a Valeria Miranda ace. The Bulldogs closed the set from there, taking the final four points on an Elizabeth City State service error, Johnson's kill from Swinton, Pope-Johnson block and another Elizabeth City State bad set to win 25-20.
The Bulldogs built an 8-4 lead in the fifth set behind a Mil'lanni Marte service ace, kills from Pope, Johnson, Terry and Swinton, and an Elizabeth City State bad set. Elizabeth City State scored the next five points, tying the set at 8-8 on BSU attack errors before Aslan served an ace for a 9-8 lead. Hale and Anacius combined on a block to pull the Bulldogs even at 9-9, and Anacius later had a kill to make it 11-10. Elizabeth City State answered with the final four points, closing the set on Mitrovich's kill for a 15-10 finish.
Johnson led BSU with 11 kills and 16 points, adding two aces and four total blocks. Hale recorded 34 assists, seven digs and four total blocks. Pope finished with five total blocks and added four kills. Swinton posted nine kills, 12 digs, two assists and two total blocks.
Miranda recorded 30 digs, seven assists and two service aces. Davis led Elizabeth City State with 12 kills while hitting .308 and adding five digs. Brown finished with 29 assists, eight digs and one ace. Washington added 10 kills, 10 digs, three aces and a team-high 14 points.
Up next, the Bulldogs host Washington Adventist University tomorrow, Tuesday, Oct. 13, at 6 p.m.
For the most up-to-date information on Bowie State Athletics and its 14 varsity sport teams, please visit BSUBulldogs.com and follow the Bulldogs on social media.
