TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Since 2009, Miles had played Talladega 18 times coming into Tuesday night's volleyball contest. During that stretch, the Lady Bears had lost all 18 contests, winning just five sets - two of those coming in a five-set loss two weeks ago.
It looked like the Lady Bears would meet a similar fate against the Tornadoes after dropping the first two sets. But Miles battled back, erasing late deficits in the final two sets to take a five-set win (23-25, 19-25, 25-22, 25-21, 15-13) over Talladega at Hawkins Center.
Alexandrea Wright had a team-high 15 kills,
Anya Creecy added 32 assists and
Kiera Washington (11 kills, 12 digs) and
Valeria Lamar (10 kills, 14 digs) had double-doubles for the winners.
In the deciding set, Miles (7-4) trailed 11-10 before Washington's kill sparked a four-point rally. A block by Wright sandwiched two Talladega errors for a 14-11 advantage. The Tornadoes came to within 14-13 but Wright took a pass from Creecy and banged it home, giving the Lady Bears their first win over Talladega (7-6) since a straight-set victory on October 1, 2008.
Miles led 20-15 in the first set before three attack errors and three receiving errors led to an opening game demise. Thongs did not look much better in the second set as Talladega hit well (13 kills, .235 hit percentage) and Miles did not (seven kills, .077 hit percentage). But things started to come together for the Lady Bears in the third set.
A kill by
Zykellia Blount (three kills, three solo blocks, two digs) pushed Miles to an early 8-3 advantage and the Lady Bears were able to maintain a safe lead for most of the set. Consecutive kills by Wright and Washington, and an ace from Creecy, put Miles one point away from extending the match. But the Tornadoes ran off five consecutive points to make it interesting before Wright finished the set with a winner. Miles trailed 18-15 in the fourth set, but four consecutive errors - followed by two straight kills by Wright - gave the Lady Bears the lead for good.
Cagejia Hosey had three kills, two solo blocks and two digs while Chazia Jones had a team-high 17 digs for Miles, which participates next in the SIAC Crossover this Friday and Saturday.
