ATLANTA — The action is heating up on the court as the fall season heads to the second month of play. The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference race for the 2025 women's volleyball crown is taking shape after last weekend's SIAC East Crossover tournament.
In the two-day, wall-to-wall 28-match event, a quartet of league teams came away unblemished in their four matches of the crossover – Spring Hill College in the West Division while all three of Benedict College, Fort Valley State and Albany State completed the task, in the East Division. Between the four squads, the teams lost only six combined sets in 16 matches.
Held on Albany State's campus, it was the host East Division which dominated the 28 crossover matches. The seven East teams took away 21 victories for a .750 win percentage.
After it started the year 3-5 with losses to No. 15 Southwest Minnesota State and two other Receiving Votes teams in the national rankings, Spring Hill College has jumped to the winning side of the ledger. Off their four-win crossover, the Badgers are now 7-5 and have a three-game lead over Tuskegee, Miles College and Central State, which are all 1-3.
For the East, the same three squads are each at least 1.5 games ahead of the fourth place team. Following a 0-8 tough start, Albany State has moved within a game of even at 7-8 and secured its sixth division win in as many matches after a 3-0 shutout of Clark Atlanta Tuesday night. Benedict College stands as the lone double-figure win club at 10-1 after a 3-1 Tuesday night home win over Savannah State to move to 5-0 in the East. Off to one of its best starts in many years, Fort Valley State claimed its first four games before falling to Georgia College (3-1) and rebounded for its 4-0 crossover. The Wildcats have dropped only five sets in nine matches.
In the first weekend of October, the top of the East Division will have at least one less undefeated team. In the marquee matchup of the weekend, Fort Valley State travels for the first of its meetings with Albany State on Friday evening. Allen also clashes with both Savannah State and Edward Waters.
The West Division heads up to Frankfurt, Ky., where each member will play twice on both Friday and Saturday.
TEAM STANDINGS
| EAST DIVISION |
| TEAM |
SIAC |
OVERALL |
| Albany State |
6-0 |
7-8 |
| Benedict |
5-0 |
10-1 |
| Fort Valley State |
4-0 |
8-1 |
| Savannah State |
3-2 |
7-4 |
| Allen |
3-2 |
6-5 |
| Edward Waters |
2-2 |
2-6 |
| Clark Atlanta |
1-4 |
1-11 |
| WEST DIVISION |
| TEAM |
SIAC |
OVERALL |
| Spring Hill |
4-0 |
7-5 |
| Tuskegee |
1-3 |
6-4 |
| Miles |
1-3 |
6-6 |
| Central State |
1-3 |
4-5 |
| LeMoyne-Owen |
0-4 |
2-9 |
| Kentucky State |
0-4 |
1-13 |
| Lane |
0-4 |
1-13 |
*Standings as of Oct. 1, 2025
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Jarianis Perez | Outside Hitter | Albany State University
- SIAC Offensive Player of the Week – Sept. 30
- Perez led the Lady Golden Rams to 4-0 run at SIAC East Crossover with 48 kills and 8 aces in 15 sets.
Talia Smith | Defensive Specialist | Albany State University
- SIAC Defensive Player of the Week – Sept. 30
- Smith anchored the ASU defense with 46 digs, including 20 digs vs. Central State
- She totaled 185 digs in 15 matches.
Monica Vargo | Setter | Spring Hill College
- SIAC Setter of the Week – Sept. 30
- Vargo registered 110 assists in 12 sets to help the Badgers go 4-0 at the SIAC East Crossover.
- She handed out 34 assists vs. Edward Waters and 30 against both Savannah State and Allen.
Claire Hayes | Middle Blocker | Spring Hill College
- SIAC Newcomer of the Week – Sept. 30
- Hayes tallied 45 kills in 12 sets to lead the team's front line at the SIAC East Crossover.
- She had 13 kills vs. Edward Waters and lead the SIAC with 3.70 per set.
Desire' Young | Middle Blocker | Benedict College
- Young leads the SIAC with a .465 attack percentage – 86 kills in 37 sets.
- She has hit over .400 for a match six times already this season.
Sarah Rosario | Defensive Specialist/Libero | Fort Valley State University
- SIAC leader at 0.94 service aces per set – 27 aces in 30 sets played.
- Rosario served up 6 aces against both Miles College and Lane College last weekend.
UPCOMING MATCHES
| THURSDAY, OCT. 2 |
| HOME |
AWAY |
TIME (ET) |
LIVE STREAM |
| Edward Waters |
Flagler |
4:00 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Fort Valley State |
Clark Atlanta |
4:00 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Savannah State |
Allen |
6:30 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
| FRIDAY, OCT. 3 |
| HOME |
AWAY |
TIME (ET) |
LIVE STREAM |
| Miles |
Central State |
11:00 a.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Tuskegee |
Lane |
11:00 a.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Spring Hill |
LeMoyne-Owen |
1:30 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Miles |
Lane |
1:30 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Tuskegee |
LeMoyne-Owen |
4:00 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Spring Hill |
Kentucky State |
4:00 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Albany State |
Fort Valley State |
6:00 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
| SATURDAY, OCT. 4 |
| HOME |
AWAY |
TIME (ET) |
LIVE STREAM |
| Miles |
LeMoyne-Owen |
9:00 a.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Spring Hill |
Lane |
9:00 a.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Tuskegee |
Kentucky State |
11:30 a.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Spring Hill |
Central State |
11:30 a.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Tuskegee |
Central State |
2:00 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Miles |
Kentucky State |
2:00 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Edward Waters |
Benedict |
2:00 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
| SUNDAY, OCT. 5 |
| HOME |
AWAY |
TIME (ET) |
LIVE STREAM |
| Edward Waters |
Allen |
3:00 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
| MONDAY, OCT. 6 |
| HOME |
AWAY |
TIME (ET) |
LIVE STREAM |
| Ouachita Baptist |
Lane |
7:00 p.m. |
YouTube |
| TUESDAY, OCT. 7 |
| HOME |
AWAY |
TIME (ET) |
LIVE STREAM |
| Clark Atlanta |
Middle Georgia State |
2:00 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Henderson State |
Lane |
3:00 p.m. |
YouTube |
| Benedict |
Claflin |
6:00 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Campbellsville |
Kentucky State |
6:00 p.m. |
YouTube |
| Georgia College |
Fort Valley State |
6:00 p.m. |
PBC Network |
| Miles |
Stillman |
7:00 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Clark Atlanta |
Shorter |
7:00 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Paine |
Allen |
7:00 p.m. |
No stream available |
| Tougaloo |
Tuskegee |
7:00 p.m. |
No stream available |
| LeMoyne-Owen |
Fisk |
8:00 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
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ABOUT THE SOUTHERN INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (SIAC)
The SIAC is a NCAA athletic conference consisting primarily of historically black colleges and universities with headquarters in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. The SIAC includes 15 member institutions (Albany State University, Allen University, Benedict College, Central State University, Clark Atlanta University, Edward Waters University, Fort Valley State University, Kentucky State University, Lane College, LeMoyne-Owen College, Miles College, Morehouse College, Savannah State University, Spring Hill College, and Tuskegee University), which are located within a contiguous seven-state footprint (Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and Ohio). The SIAC sponsors nine men's and seven women's sports and is a proud member of the NCAA Division II. For more information, visit
www.thesiac.com.