ATLANTA — The battle at the top of the 2025 best is set for this weekend in Tennessee’s largest western city. The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference has the current top four teams scheduled to take the court in the SIAC West Crossover tournament.
The unblemished West Division leader Spring Hill College has the three East Division leaders — Benedict College, Fort Valley State and Albany State — on the court this Friday and Saturday in the14-team field.
Spring Hill College is the hottest team in the SIAC West and currently holds the conference’s longest win streak. The Badgers have won the last two weekend events with 4-0 marks, have not dropped a set and prevailed in each of the 24 sets played. SHC will now test its mettle as the two divisions wrap up the crossover matches.
Fort Valley State, Albany State and Benedict are separated by a single game in the SIAC East standings. FVSU stayed perfect and improved to 6-0 after a shutout of Clark Atlanta last Thursday afternoon. The Wildcats followed with a furious comeback against the rival Golden Rams of Albany State (6-1) the next evening. ASU captured the first two sets before FVSU rallied and forced the fifth set. Leading 8-6 at the turn, the Wildcats netted five-straight points before
Imani Stokes completed the comeback with the final kill, 15-7.
Savannah State, which is 4-2 in the SIAC East and knocking at the door of the top three, gave Benedict College (5-1) its first loss, 3-1, last Tuesday in Columbia.
Benedict College and Fort Valley State test Spring Hill College first on Friday at 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. Albany State gets its turn on Saturday in a 12:30 p.m. first serve. Savannah State aims to move up in the East when it takes on the West’s second-place team, Central State (3-4), in a Friday contest at 12:30 p.m.
The two-day crossover will feature 21 matches played in a little over 30 hours.
STATISTICAL LEADERS
- Spring Hill, Benedict and Fort Valley State are having their success by leading the SIAC in team hitting at .236, .232 and .228, respectively.
- Fort Valley State and Benedict are also limiting their opponent’s hitting success at .076 and 0.98.
- Lane College leads the league with 2.03 team blocks per set.
TEAM STANDINGS
| EAST DIVISION |
| TEAM |
SIAC |
OVERALL |
| Fort Valley State |
6-0 |
10-2 |
| Albany State |
6-1 |
7-9 |
| Benedict |
5-1 |
11-2 |
| Savannah State |
4-2 |
8-4 |
| Allen |
4-3 |
7-6 |
| Edward Waters |
3-3 |
3-8 |
| Clark Atlanta |
1-5 |
1-14 |
| WEST DIVISION |
| TEAM |
SIAC |
OVERALL |
| Spring Hill |
8-0 |
11-5 |
| Central State |
3-4 |
6-6 |
| Tuskegee |
3-5 |
9-6 |
| Miles |
3-5 |
9-8 |
| Kentucky State |
1-6 |
2-16 |
| Lane |
1-6 |
2-18 |
| LeMoyne-Owen |
0-7 |
2-13 |
*Standings as of Oct. 9, 2025
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Karea Copeland | Outside Hitter | Miles College
- SIAC Offensive Player and Newcomer of the Week – Oct. 7
- Copeland led the Lady Bears to 3-2 week.
- She downed 71 kills with 35 digs and nine service aces at the SIAC West Cluster – 19 kills and 11 digs against Central State, and 21 kills against Lane.
- Copeland hit .261 with a 14.2 kills per match average and 3.94 kills per set.
Ashlyn Whiteside | Defensive Specialist/Libero | Spring Hill College
- SIAC Defensive Player of the Week – Oct. 7
- Whiteside dug 43 attacks in 12 sets to help her team sweep four matches in the SIAC West Cluster.
- She had 17 digs against LeMoyne-Owen and 13 digs against Kentucky State.
- Whiteside currently leads the SIAC in digs with 250 (4.55 digs/set).
Monica Vargo | Setter | Spring Hill College
- SIAC Setter of the Week – Oct. 7
- Vargo registered 88 assists in 12 sets as the Badgers ran their win streak to eight matches.
- She totaled 34 assists versus Kentucky State and 20-plus against both Lane and Central State.
Imani Stokes | Middle Blocker | Fort Valley State University
- Stokes currently leads the SIAC in hits.
- She has 80 kills over 32 sets for a league-best .337 attack percentage.
Naomy Vergez | Outside Hitter/Right Side | Edward Waters University
- Vergez currently leads the SIAC in kills.
- She has recorded 229 kills over her first 60 sets at a conference-best 3.82 kills per set average.
Gabriella Jones | Middle Blocker | Tuskegee University
- Jones currently leads the SIAC in blocks.
- She is the lone player averaging more than 1.0 blocks per set, with 37 total blocks in 36 sets (1.03 blocks/set).
UPCOMING MATCHES
| FRIDAY, OCT. 10 |
| HOME |
AWAY |
TIME (ET) |
LIVE STREAM |
| Miles |
Allen |
10:00 a.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Tuskegee |
Edward Waters |
10:00 a.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Spring Hill |
Benedict |
10:00 a.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Lane |
Albany State |
12:30 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Central State |
Savannah State |
12:30 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Kentucky State |
Clark Atlanta |
12:30 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
| LeMoyne-Owen |
Fort Valley State |
3:00 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Miles |
Edward Waters |
3:00 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Tuskegee |
Benedict |
3:00 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Lane |
Savannah State |
5:30 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Central State |
Clark Atlanta |
5:30 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Kentucky State |
Allen |
5:30 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Spring Hill |
Fort Valley State |
8:00 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
| LeMoyne-Owen |
Albany State |
8:00 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
| SATURDAY, OCT. 11 |
| HOME |
AWAY |
TIME (ET) |
LIVE STREAM |
| Central State |
Allen |
10:00 a.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Kentucky State |
Edward Waters |
10:00 a.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Miles |
Benedict |
10:00 a.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Tuskegee |
Fort Valley State |
12:30 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Spring Hill |
Albany State |
12:30 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
| LeMoyne-Owen |
Savannah State |
12:30 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Lane |
Clark Atlanta |
3:00 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
| MONDAY, OCT. 13 |
| HOME |
AWAY |
TIME (ET) |
LIVE STREAM |
| Rust |
Miles |
7:00 p.m. |
No stream available |
| TUESDAY, OCT. 14 |
| HOME |
AWAY |
TIME (ET) |
LIVE STREAM |
| Philander Smith |
Lane |
5:00 p.m. |
No stream available |
| Benedict |
Albany State |
6:00 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Johnson & Wales |
Allen |
7:00 p.m. |
YouTube |
| Harris-Stowe |
Lane |
7:00 p.m. |
No stream available |
| Miles |
Oakwood |
7:00 p.m. |
No stream available |
| Tougaloo |
LeMoyne-Owen |
7:00 p.m. |
No stream available |
| Spring Hill |
U of Montevallo |
7:00 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
| WEDNESDAY, OCT. 15 |
| HOME |
AWAY |
TIME (ET) |
LIVE STREAM |
| Tuskegee |
Spring Hill |
7:00 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
| Savannah State |
Clark Atlanta |
6:00 p.m. |
SIAC Network |
| U of Cincinnati-Clermont |
Central State |
6:00 p.m. |
No stream available |
FOLLOW THE SIAC
Stay connected by following the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference on Facebook, Instagram and X @TheSIAC.
SIAC NEWS
Sign up for SIAC News to be among the first to receive media releases, updates and more!
ABOUT THE SOUTHERN INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (SIAC)
The SIAC is a NCAA athletic conference consisting primarily of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) 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.