FORT VALLEY, Ga. – Miles continued its impressive 2026 campaign with a convincing sweep of Clark Atlanta (25-20, 25-22 and 25-18) on Tuesday night in the opening round of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Women's Volleyball Tournament at the Health and Physical Education Complex. It was the first time that the Lady Bears have ever won a match at the SIAC Volleyball Tournament.
Miles (26-9) controlled the match on both sides of the net, recording 43 kills while hitting an impressive .340 as a team while limiting CAU (19-11) to just 26 kills and a .078 hitting percentage. SIAC Player of the Year Karea Copeland had another monster offensive performance, hitting .450 with 21 kills. Alyzia Cola had 32 assists and six digs, Bailey Jones added 17 digs and Aida Edwards finished with six kills and four blocks (one solo).
Miles took over the opening set midway through. Nevaeh Bellamy started a five point run with a kill and combo block with Copeland, and Cola finished the run with two straight service aces for a 14-7 lead. Back-to-back combo blocks by Destinee Evans (one with Edwards, the other with Kori Brown) increased the advantage to 18-10 and the Panthers never recovered. The Lady Bears hit .375 in the second set but trailed by as many as four points midway through the set. But two CAU errors wrapped around an ace by Jones put Miles in front and Edwards' kill closed out the second set.
The Lady Bears never trailed in the final set, using a six-point run to break the final game open. Cola set up Jaharia Hunter to start the run, then added her own kill.The final two points of the stretch came on kills by Copeland to give Miles a 14-7 advantage. Another kill by Copeland and error by the Panthers closed out the match and sent the Lady Bears to the semifinals, where they will face No. 2 seed Albany State on Wednesday. First serve is set for 3 p.m.
