With an opportunity to improve its chances of qualifying for the SIAC Tournament, Miles put on one of its best performances against the team directly in front of it in the standings.

The Lady Bears had a season-high 14 blocks (eight of them solo), committed just 10 attack errors and hit .329 as a team in blasting Tuskegee in straight sets (25-21, 25-12, 25-13) on Friday night at Knox-Windham Gymnasium. The win snapped a two-match losing streak but more importantly, pushed Miles (16-14, 7-10 SIAC West) into a tie with the Golden Tigerettes (14-11, 7-10) for third place in the division with two conference matches remaining. Both teams remain one game ahead of Kentucky State as the three teams battle for two spots in the conference tourney.

The opening set was a back-and-forth affair, But Miles showed early that it was going to be a problem for Tuskegee at the net as blocker Precious Sturdivant was in the mix from the get-go. She had four blocks (two solo) as the Lady Bears tallied seven in the opening set, with Zion Rucker, Kiersten Hight, Jaida Lloyd and Kori Brown all getting in on the action. With the set tied at 21, the Lady Bears took control. Three straight attack errors put Miles on the precipice before Karea Copeland closed out the set with a her fourth kill to put Miles on hte board.

It only got worse from there for the Golden Tigerettes. The Lady Bears kept swinging, serving and blocking their way to a dominant opening to the second set. Miles hit .433 (15-2-30) and added five service aces in rolling to an easy win. Set three put everything together. The Lady Bears hit better (11-1-21, .476), added more aces (six of their 12 on the night), and got six more blocks in blowing away Tuskegee. Addisyn Doss started the set with a kill and a block, Sturdivant had a kill and two more solo blocks, and Eliyah McIlwain had an ace as Miles opened a 9-1 lead and never looked back. The night ended with another block by Sturdivant, who had four kills, hit .429 and added a career-high seven blocks (five solo).

Copeland had a match-high 11 kills, hit .391 and added eight digs, Lloyd hit .429 with four kills, two blocks and 25 assists, and Brown hit .357 with seven kills and two blocks to pace the Lady bears, who travel to play Tougaloo on Monday. First serve is set for 6 p.m.