WILBERFORCE, Ohio —
Tuskegee swept its opening matches at the Central State Cluster on Friday, beating Lane and
LeMoyne-Owen to run its win streak to four. The Golden Tigers have now won 11 straight sets in the process.
Helena Pommeret has 12 kills while hitting .435 and added 10 blocks (two solo) over the two matches to pace Tuskegee (10-, 4-2 SIAC) while
Ta'Mya Hicks (30 assists, 12 digs, four service aces) and
Sakiah Logan (38 digs, six assists, four service aces played major supporting roles both offensively and defensively.
TU 3, LANE 0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-21)
Two kills by
Carmyn Lawson and two service aces by Logan were part of a 7-0 run that gave Tuskegee a 9-4 lead and the Lady Dragons never got closer than four points the rest of the way. In the second game, the Golden Tigers trailed by two points before
Michaela Branner (four kills, one block) and Pommeret (one kill, two blocks) played a big part in a 9-1 run that gave Tuskegee an 18-12 advantage en route to another victory. In the final set, Lane scored six straight points to tie the score at 17 but consecutive kills by Hicks and Pommeret gave Tuskegee the lead for good and back-to-back errors by the Lady Dragons closed out the match.
TU 3, LEMOYNE-OWEN 0 (27-25, 25-12, 25-20)
Playing without Lawson against the Lady Magicians, it was
Rae'ana Chastine who stepped up big for Tuskegee in getting the sweep, finishing with a season-high 11 kills. LeMoyne-Owen staved off five set points in the opening game before the Golden Tigers were finally able to dispatch the Lady Magicians with a kill from Pommeret and a combo block by
Jordyn Jones and
Jameah Chappell leading to the deciding points. In the second game, the score was tied at 7 but TU started a block party that LOC did not want to attend. Jones had three blocks (one solo) and
Najwa Williamsadded two kills as part of a 10-3 run that gave Tuskegee all the cushion it would need to take a commanding lead. The Golden Tigers never tailed in the final set but LOC stayed in the hunt. But an 8-1 run, highlighted by Chastine (two kills, block) and
Breonna Smith (two combo blocks), was enough for Tuskegee to take command and finish the match.
UP NEXT: The Golden Tigers will compete in the second day of the Central State Cluster on Saturday with matches against Kentucky State (10:30 a.m.) and Central State (1 p.m.)
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ABOUT THE SOUTHERN INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (SIAC)
The SIAC is an NCAA athletic conference consisting primarily of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) headquartered 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 eight women's sports and is a proud member of NCAA Division II. For more information, visit
www.thesiac.com.