BOWIE, Md. — Bowie State women's volleyball team lost to Elizabeth City State 3-2 on Thursday. The Bulldogs won the first two sets before dropping the final three, with set scores of 25-18, 25-22, 24-26, 21-25 and 7-15.
The Bulldogs opened the first set by taking the first three points, with Gabrielle Hale putting down a kill from Payton Swinton before two Elizabeth City State errors made it 3-0. Elizabeth City State got within 3-2 on kills by Jazzmyn Davis and Cagla Aslan, but BSU rebuilt the margin with kills from Amara Pope and Abena Asomani-Martin and led 10-5 after Hale's second kill. After Fernanda Ocoro Cusihuaman's consecutive kills brought ECSU within 10-7, Taylor Johnson recorded three kills before Asomani-Martin and Pope added back-to-back points for a 17-10 lead. Elizabeth City State trimmed the gap to 18-14 with three straight points, but the Bulldogs answered with kills by Asomani-Martin, Melisa Anacius and Johnson, got a Johnson/Anacius block late, and closed the set 25-18 on a Kendall Washington service error.
In the second set, BSU took early 7-5 and 10-8 leads, with Johnson putting down a kill and then teaming with Pope on a block for the 10th point, before Elizabeth City State came back to tie it at 12-12. The middle of the set stayed level, as the Bulldogs used kills from Pope, Swinton, Hale and Asomani-Martin plus a Mil'lanni Marte ace to keep answering, but Elizabeth City St. moved ahead 21-19 on back-to-back points. A service error and a bad set brought BSU even at 21-21, Johnson's serve helped produce four straight points to reach 24-21, and Pope finished the set with a kill for a 25-22 win.
BSU erased an early 6-3 deficit with a three-point stretch that included an Asomani-Martin service ace to tie the third set at 6-6. Elizabeth City State moved back ahead 11-7 with kills from Fernanda Ocoro Cusihuaman, Kendall Washington and Christian Bouie, but the Bulldogs closed to 11-10 behind a Jy'Asha Cousins kill and two Bouie attack errors. After Elizabeth City State later led 17-14, BSU tied the set at 17-17 on a Christina San kill, a Cameron Mitrovich bad set and a Cousins block, then stayed even again at 18-18 and 19-19 on Cousins kills. Elizabeth City St. went up 22-20 before a Swinton block and a Mitrovich attack error tied it at 22-22, and although Johnson's kill made it 24-24, ECSU took the final two points to survive, and win the set 26-24.
The Bulldogs opened the fourth set with kills by Johnson and Swinton, but Elizabeth City State moved ahead 8-5 behind kills from Jazzmyn Davis, Cadence Rascoe and Cameron Mitrovich. BSU answered with five straight points, getting a Hale kill and blocks involving Asomani-Martin, Anacius, Hale and Johnson to go in front 10-8. ECSU tied it at 10-10 and later led 12-11 on Golden Brown's ace, but the Bulldogs moved back ahead 16-13 after a service error, kills by Johnson, Pope and Swinton, and a Davis attack error. The teams were even again at 19-19 before Elizabeth City State scored five of the next six points to reach set point, and after Johnson's kill made it 24-21, Kendall Washington closed the set for Elizabeth City State., 25-21.
The fifth and final set held all the tension, BSU faced a 4-0 deficit in the fifth set before a block by Anacius and Johnson and a Swinton kill from Hale cut the gap to 4-2. Elizabeth City State pushed back with points from Christian Bouie and Jazzmyn Davis and later used two Davis kills and two BSU attack errors to build an 11-3 lead. Pope, Asomani-Martin and Johnson added kills for the Bulldogs, and a bad set by Cameron Mitrovich made it 14-7 before Kendall Washington's kill from Cagla Aslan closed the set for Elizabeth City State, 15-7.
Jazzmyn Davis finished with 16 kills and 16.0 points while hitting .270. Kendall Washington added 14 kills, 17 digs and a block assist. Valeria Miranda recorded 22 digs with five assists and a service ace. Cadence Rascoe posted six total blocks, including four solo blocks, and added four kills.
Asomani-Martin led the Bulldogs with 14 kills and 16 points, adding 10 digs and two blocks. Johnson finished with 12 kills, 14 digs, four blocks and 15.5 points. Hale recorded 29 assists, six kills and eight digs. Marte collected a team-high 17 digs and added a service ace.
BSU is 2-5 overall and 0-2 in CIAA play. Elizabeth City State is 5-10 overall and 2-0 in CIAA play.
Up next, BSU hosts Virginia Union University on Monday, Sept. 28, at 6 p.m. at A.C. Jordan Arena in Bowie, Md.
For the most up-to-date information on Bowie State Athletics and its 14 varsity sport teams, please visit bsubulldogs.com.
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