PETERSBURG, Va. — Bowie State (9-11, 6-8 CIAA) lost to Winston-Salem (12-9, 8-6 CIAA) 3-0 on Saturday, falling by set scores of 21-25, 21-25 and 20-25. The Bulldogs cut a seven-point deficit to 12-10 in the second set, but the push was not enough to prevent the sweep. BSU finished with 31 kills and 31 attack errors while Winston-Salem hit .128 and held a 12-5 advantage in total blocks.
Match 1 vs Winston-Salem State
The Bulldogs moved in front 9-5 in the opening set after Abena Asomani-Martin served through a stretch that included a Gabrielle Hale block, a Jy'Asha Cousins kill and a Hale kill. Winston-Salem answered with four straight points, including two Celina Johnson service aces and a Sarah Sanders kill, to tie it at 9-9, and the teams continued trading points through ties at 12-12, 15-15, 16-16 and 17-17. Payton Swinton's kill and service ace brought BSU back even at 19-19, and Asomani-Martin later matched another Winston-Salem point with a kill for 20-20. Winston-Salem took the next three points for a 23-20 lead, and after a service error gave the Bulldogs one more point, Winston-Salem closed the set 25-21 on Holiday Ellis' kill.
After Asomani-Martin put BSU up 1-0 with a kill from Hale, Winston-Salem went in front 4-1 during Kamiyah Wilson's service turn and later stretched the margin to 11-4 with kills from Wilson and Sarah Sanders. The Bulldogs cut the deficit to 12-10, getting an Asomani-Martin kill and later a Hale kill, back-to-back Asomani-Martin aces and a block by Melisa Anacius and Hale on an Aria Caldwell attack error. BSU pulled even at 17-17 on Kimiko Evans' ace and again at 18-18 on Payton Swinton's kill, but Winston-Salem scored the next four points to move ahead 22-18. The Bulldogs fought off set point at 24-19 with a Spring Terry kill and a Winston-Salem attack error to get to 24-21, but Wilson's kill finished the set for Winston-Salem, 25-21.
Winston-Salem built an early cushion in the third set, moving ahead 10-3 after Holiday Ellis recorded a kill and Sarah Sanders was credited with a block during the stretch. BSU got points from Asomani-Martin, Terry and an Amara Pope-Dyllan Chandler block, but Winston-Salem extended the margin to 22-9 behind a run that included kills by Holiday Ellis and Kamiyah Wilson. The Bulldogs pushed back late, with Reece Culver serving an ace and Asomani-Martin adding a kill during a four-point service turn that cut the score to 23-15. After Winston-Salem reached 24-15, BSU fought off five set points behind an Asomani-Martin-Anacius block and two Payton Swinton aces before Sanders finished the set for Winston-Salem, 25-20.
Asomani-Martin led the Bulldogs with nine kills and 11.5 points while adding 10 digs and two service aces. Hale finished with 26 assists, six digs, three kills and two total blocks. Culver recorded a team-high 16 digs and added a service ace. Swinton tallied three service aces, seven digs and four kills.
Holiday Ellis led Winston-Salem with 12 kills and added 14 digs, three blocks and an ace. Kalyn Cuthbertson recorded a team-high 16 digs. Zoe Chesson posted six total blocks, including three solo blocks, and added five kills. Celina Johnson finished with 29 assists, seven digs and two service aces.
Match 2 vs Bluefield State
To open up the second game of the day, the Bulldogs moved from a 6-6 tie to a 10-6 lead, helped by a Payton Swinton service turn that included an Abena Asomani-Martin kill and two Bluefield State errors, and later pushed the advantage to 16-10 on kills by Swinton and Melisa Anacius. Bluefield State answered by turning that 16-10 deficit into a 19-16 lead. BSU closed the set with five straight points: an Asomani-Martin kill, back-to-back blocks involving Iman Wright, Jy'Asha Cousins and Gabrielle Hale, a Wright kill and an Asomani-Martin ace for a 25-22 win.
After Bluefield State scored the first two points of the second set, the Bulldogs answered with four straight, including a Hale service ace and a Swinton kill, to move in front 4-2. Bluefield State later built a 13-10 lead, but BSU took five consecutive points behind kills from Taylor Johnson and Anacius, another Johnson kill and an Anacius-Hale block to go ahead 15-13. After Bluefield State pulled within 18-17, the Bulldogs pushed the margin back to 21-17, reached set point on a Johnson kill at 24-20 and closed the set 25-22 on an Asomani-Martin kill.
BSU built a 5-1 lead in the third set with two kills from Johnson and two from Swinton after Bluefield State had tied it at 1-1. Bluefield State got back to 6-4, but the Bulldogs answered with a run that included blocks by Cousins and Asomani-Martin, a Cousins kill and a Swinton service ace to move ahead 14-5, then stretched the margin to 18-8 on kills by Anacius and Reece Culver. Bluefield State scored four straight points to reach 18-12, including a Tessa Heffner ace, before BSU closed the set by taking seven of the final eight points, finishing with a Johnson ace and a Swinton kill for a 25-13 win.
Swinton led the Bulldogs with 12 kills, hit .310 and added 13 digs and a service ace. Hale recorded 34 assists, eight digs, four block assists and a service ace. Culver collected 16 digs and added two assists. Anacius finished with nine kills on a .263 hitting percentage and totaled four blocks.
Up next, the BSU volleyball takes on Claflin at 9 a.m. and Livingstone at 3 p.m. to close out CIAA Round-Up 2 on Sunday, Oct. 18.
For the most up-to-date information on Bowie State Athletics and its 14 varsity sport teams, please visit bsubulldogs.com.
