ALBANY, Ga. -- Miles snapped a four-match losing streak Thursday as it gained a split of its two matches during the first day of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Volleyball Crossover on the campus of Albany State University. The Lady Bears defeated Fort Valley State in five sets before succumbing to Paine in four sets.
Breanna Edwards-Demars (24 kills) and
Raiana Johnson (21 kills, eight blocks) paced the offense while
Tatiyana Thomas averaged 34 assists and
D'Nautica Johnson averaged more than 22 digs per contest.
Match #1 - Miles def. Fort Valley State (25-17, 25-21, 15-25, 21-25, 15-10)
The Lady Bears came out hot but needed to hold off a late surge from the Wildcats to secure the win. Edwards-Demars enjoyed the best match of her career at Miles, finishing with a career-high 15 kills. She set the pace in the final set when she had four kills as Miles opened an 8-2 lead. FVSU would battle back, getting to within two points, but committed six errors down the stretch as the Lady Bears took home the win.
Raiana Johnson had 10 kills, four blocks (two solo) and four digs, Thomas had 35 assists, seven digs and two blocks,
D'Nautica Johnson had 23 digs, and
Briana Brown added six kills, 10 digs and four blocks.Collectively, Miles held FVSUÂ to an .038 hitting percentage.
Match #2 - Paine def. Miles (25-23, 20-25, 25-20, 25-21)
Miles battled in each of the four sets, but after splitting the first two, it was unable to make enough plays down the stretch in the final two sets as the Lions earned the win. In the final set, the Lady Bears served with a 20-18 advantage but did not score another offensive point for the remainder of the match.
The Lady Bears received solid performances from
Raiana Johnson (11-2-35, .257, four blocks), Edwards-Demars (nine kills, eight digs), Brown (eight kills, 12 digs), Thomas (33 assists, seven digs, two blocks, three kills), and
D'Nautica Johnson (22 digs).
The Lady Bears are back in action tomorrow when they play matches against Albany State and Benedict beginning at 10 a.m.
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