PETERSBURG, Va. — Bowie State (11-12, 8-9 CIAA) defeated Claflin (11-16, 5-11 CIAA) 3-1 but fell in three-straight to Livingstone (22-4, 15-2 CIAA) to conclude the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) round up on Sunday inside the VSU Multipurpose Center.
Match 1 vs. Claflin
After dropping the opening set 22-25, the Bulldogs won the next three 25-13, 25-21 and 25-15 while hitting .258 for the match with Claflin posting a 16-11 edge in kills behind six from Monica Burns and four from Taylor Miller. BSU erased an 11-14 deficit to move ahead 16-15, and
Taylor Johnson led the home side with five kills while
Abena Asomani-Martin added three.
The Bulldogs won the second set 25-13 with a 13-7 advantage in kills and three service aces. Johnson had five kills and
Gabrielle Hale added 10 assists, while BSU's 6-0 run from 3-2 to 9-2 included five straight service points on Hale's serve. The Bulldogs overcame a late 21-20 deficit by winning the final five points to take the third set 25-21. Asomani-Martin served the closing stretch, which included a Johnson kill and three Claflin attack errors.
The Bulldogs won the fourth set 25-15 and finished with an 8-4 edge in kills, led by three apiece from
Payton Swinton and
Melisa Anacius. After trailing 9-7, BSU used a six-point stretch to move ahead 13-9, including five straight points on
Bracey Gross' serve, while Claflin totaled three service aces in the set.
Johnson led BSU with 16 kills, three service aces and 19.5 points while hitting .351. Anacius added 10 kills on a .350 hitting percentage and finished with four total blocks. Hale recorded 29 assists, six digs and one service ace. Swinton collected 14 digs to go with five kills and one service ace.
Match 2 vs. Livingstone
To start the match Livingstone built an 8-3 lead in the opening set behind early blocks by Da'Maia Bryant, a kill by Oliwia Jaroszewicz and a Tialofa Alofipo ace. BSU worked back into the set as
Amara Pope assisted on a block, Anacius and Asomani-Martin put down kills, and
Payton Swinton added an ace during a push that brought the Bulldogs within 9-8. Livingstone, to close the set responded with points from Destiny Drakeford, Hailey Henriquez and Jaroszewicz to get to 23-18, and after an Anacius kill held off set point once, Bryant finished the set at 25-20.
After Livingstone moved ahead 9-5, the Bulldogs took four straight points behind blocks involving Swinton, Anacius and Asomani-Martin, then used a Swinton kill to tie the set at 10-10 and a Hale block to go up 11-10. LC went back in front 14-13, but BSU tied it on an attack error and scored the next four points with Hale serving, getting kills from Pope and Swinton before Pope's block helped make it 18-14. The Bulldogs stretched the margin to 21-15 and reached set point at 24-21 on another Swinton kill, but Livingstone took the final five points, tying the set on a block by Justyce McKennie and Destiny Drakeford and closing a 26-24 set on a Hailey Henriquez kill.
After LC moved in front 2-0, BSU answered with Johnson's kill from Hale and scored the next seven points with Hale serving, using blocks involving Johnson, Pope and Swinton before Swinton's kill and Hale's ace made it 8-2. The Bulldogs later built a 14-6 lead on kills by
Spring Terry and Swinton and back-to-back blocks involving Anacius, but the Lady Blue Bears scored nine straight with Hailey Henriquez serving to move ahead 15-14. Asomani-Martin's kill tied it at 15-15, and her service ace put BSU up 16-15 before the teams traded points until Swinton's kill from Hale evened the set at 20-20. Livingstone scored the final five points, getting two Henriquez kills, a Drakeford kill and a Mya Dalpiaz ace to take the set 25-20.
Swinton finished with nine kills, 12 digs, five total blocks and one service ace. Pope recorded nine total blocks, including four solo blocks, and added three kills. Hale tallied 21 assists, 10 digs and two service aces. Anacius added four kills and five total blocks.
Hailey Henriquez led Livingstone with 13 kills on a .333 hitting percentage and added an ace. Alofipo recorded a team-high 33 digs and added three assists. Da'Maia Bryant finished with seven kills and a team-best six total blocks. Justyce McKennie posted a team-high 19 assists with three digs and two block assists.
Up next, Bowie State will visit Millersville University on Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 6 p.m. to conclude its nonconference action for 2026.
For the most up-to-date information on Bowie State Athletics and its 14 varsity sport teams, please visit bsubulldogs.com.
