ALBANY, Ga. -- Miles made its initial foray into conference play this week as the Lady Bears played four matches as part of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference East Crossover hosted by Albany State. While the young team took a little time to get going, it was competitive despite dropping the first three matches. But the Lady Bears were able to put one in the win column in the final match against Clark Atlanta to earn their first victory in SIAC competition.

The Lady Bears (5-6, 1-3) dropped their matches on Thursday against Fort Valley State (25-11, 27-25, 25-21) and Albany State (25-6, 27-25, 18-25, 25-17). After coming up short against Savannah State (25-21, 20-25, 25-23, 25-16) on Friday, Miles closed out the Crossover with a five-set win over the Panthers (25-27, 25-22, 25-19, 19-25, 15-11). It was the second straight match that Miles has won when it went the distance.

Among the top performers during the Crossover were Karea Copeland, who had a staggering 67 kills over the four matches. She had double-doubles in the final three matches and set season-highs in kills in back-to-back contests (19 vs. Albany State, 21 vs. Savannah State). Copeland's 21 digs against the Lady Rams also was a season's best. Jaida Lloyd (nine kills, 68 assists, four service aces, 33 digs) had double doubles against Albany State (19 assists, 10 digs) and Clark Atlanta (15 assists, 12 digs). Defensively, Kiersten Hight (15 blocks, six solo) and Eliyah McIlwain (team-high 59 digs) were standouts during the four matches.

The Lady Bears are back in action on Monday when they host Rust. First serve is set for 6 p.m.