Box Score PETERSBURG, VA- The Fayetteville State University volleyball team clawed their way to a 3-1 win over Chowan University in the CIAA Semifinal match on Saturday afternoon. The Lady Broncos advance to the CIAA Championship match with the victory.
Chowan entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed in the CIAA Northern Division with Fayetteville State representing the Southern Division as the No. 2 seed.
Chowan opened the match with a 25-17 win over Fayetteville State. The Lady Broncos stormed back to capture a 25-18 win in set two and 25-15 victory in the third set. After facing an early deficit, Fayetteville State clawed their way to a 25-22 win in set four to secure the 3-1 match win.
Jayde Jacobs led all players in the contest with 18 kills in the victory. Bojo Jada notched 10 kills in the contest with Samira Luis recorded 31 digs with Arlicia Ortiz notching 27 digs. Tilar Stanford notched 22 assists over the course of the competition with Nakia McKinnie adding 19 assists.
Morgan Spencer led the effort for the Hawks with 15 kills in the setback.
Suraya Chase added 11 kills in the loss along with 15 digs for the Chowan Blue and White.
Bailey Zavala hauled in 42 digs for the Hawks with
Karisa Patterson dishing out 25 assists.
Both teams came out firing at the start of the first set. After trailing 2-1 early in the set, the Hawks used a 3-0 run behind Castro's serves to take a narrow 4-2 lead. Chowan continued to build on the shift in momentum, maintaining the lead for the remainder of the set. The Hawks pulled away 20-15 down the final stretch of set before earning the 25-17 victory after a kill by Castro.
In the second set, with the score knotted 11-11, a 5-2 run by Fayetteville State left the Hawks trailing 16-13. The Lady Broncos never looked back after taking the lead and rolled to the 25-18 win in the second set; securing the victory with a kill by Chynna Hunt.
Fayetteville State controlled the third set. With the score tied 5-5, the Lady Broncos orchestrated a 9-4 run to take a commanding 14-9 advantage. The Hawks managed to pull within four points (16-12) by the midway point but the Lady Broncos refused to back down. A ball handling error by Chowan handed Fayetteville State the 25-15 win in set three.
Down but not out, the Hawks battled back in the fourth set. Chowan opened the set with a 6-2 lead. The Lady Broncos regrouped to pull within one point (8-7), but the Hawks answered back and slowly built their lead to 19-12 late in the set. Fayetteville State methodically worked to build a 9-2 run to knot the score 21-21. The Lady Broncos held a tight grip on the momentum and secured the 25-22 win with a kill by Luis.
The Lady Broncos advance to the CIAA Championship match and will compete against the winner of Saturday's Shaw University/Virginia State University semifinal contest. Fayetteville State advances to the match with a 19-7 record. The CIAA Championship is slated for 1pm on Sunday in the Multipurpose Center.
The Hawks end the season with a 22-10 overall record.
