Central State volleyball earns 10th win of season with win over Wilmington



WILBERFORCE, Ohio – The Central State Lady Marauder volleyball team earned its 10th victory of the season with a 3-0 win over Wilmington on Wednesday night.


"It's nice to make a little history for our program," CSU head coach Ray Lewis said. "It's the first time CSU has gotten to double-digit wins in volleyball since becoming an NCAA Div. II program."


Hosting its first home matches of the season to a limited capacity crowd due to health restrictions, CSU opened the day against a West Virginia State team, a perennial power in the Mountain East Conference. After dropping the first set, 25-15, the Lady Marauders were able to regain their form. The second set was a close-knit contest late into the frame as CSU trailed, 20-19. The Yellow Jackets put up a 4-0 run featuring two Jenna Dufresne kills, to build some cushion went on to take the game 25-20.


The third frame was a marathon event, featuring six set points before the Marauders kept the match alive with a 33-31 mark after three straight kills from freshman hitter Ajanae Cressey. 


The Lady Marauders carried the momentum into the early stages of the fourth set, going up 10-5. WVSU responded by scoring seven of the next nine points using a strong net game as the Yellow Jackets recorded four blocks during the run.


With the score at 11-10, three kills and a ace by Jazmyne Walker upped the CSU lead to 16-13 but a 6-0 run by WVSU stifled the Lady Marauders momentum. In a back-and-forth final stages of the fourth set with the score knotted at 23-23 after kills by Walker and Hailey White, WVSU closed out the match with two kills including outside hitter Gabrielle Bullock's 22nd of the match, 


"After that first set, I thought we settled down and executed," Lewis said. "Playing and competing against a team like WVSU is a match we can build off of going forward."


Walker was impressive in the loss, finished with 21 kills and 17 digs. White had 14 kills and Cressey had 13 kills.Setter Makayla Alia recorded 47 assists.


CSU used the positives from the WVSU match as a carry over into the the late match with Wilmington.While earning the three set victory of Wilmington, the Quakers didn't make things easy for the Lady Marauders.


In a 26-24 first set, CSU was down 16-11. WC committed six errors over the next 13 points sequence and CSU took advantage to tie the game up, 20-20. The teams played to a 24-24 tie before White and Ajanae' Cressey recorded kills to give CSU the set.


The second set also ended 26-24 in favor of the Lady Marauders with the Quakers jumping out to another 16-11 lead. Five straight CSU kills and a WC error erased the deficit and put the Lady Marauders up 17-16. Wilmington responded with the next four points and eventually had CSU on the brink with a lead a 24-21. A Cressey kill lead to a 5-point CSU run to close out the set, giving the Lady Marauders a 2-0 lead in the match.


After narrowly escpaing the first two sets, CSU jumped out to a 10-5 lead. WC kept within striking distance throughout the early stages of the set. With the score at 19-16 in favor of CSU, the Lady Marauders closed the match out by scoring the next six points.


Walker shined again for CSU with 14 kills. Cressey finished with nine kills and two blocks. Cristina Reyes was impressive from a defensive standpoint with 20 digs.

 
Wednesday's results propel CSU's overall record to 10-5 overall.

 
CSU will be back on the road on Friday against Salem University.


NOTES:

- CSU has earned double-digit victories for the first time as a NCAA Div. II program.

- Jazmyne Walker, a transfer from Southern Nevada, recorded a season high 21 kills against West Virginia on Wednesday

- Ajanae' Cressey, a freshman from Las Vegas, Nevada, was named SIAC Newcomer of the Week on Tuesday. Cressey has earned SIAC weekly honors three times this season.

- CSU's 59 kills against WVSU on Wednesday is the most the team has had this season.

- CSU's 15 errors against Wilmington is the fewest errors the team has committed this season.