CHARLOTTE, NC – The Livingstone volleyball team snapped their four-match losing streak Thursday evening as they downed the Johnson C. Smith University Golden Bulls 3-1.
With the victory, Livingstone improved to 11-6 overall, 7-5 in the conference and 1-4 in the Western Division. Johnson C. Smith fell to 3-19 overall, 2-8 in the CIAA and 0-5 in the Western Division.
The Blue Bears won their first game in their last four conference matches as they took the first game 25-20. Livingstone had to battle for the game-one victory as they fell behind 7-4 early. The Blue Bear attack got them square at 7-7, and allowed them to open up a 16-13 edge. Johnson C. Smith fought back to tie the game at 16, but Livingstone held strong and took the first game 25-20.
Livingstone struggled in the second game. Despite going down early, the Blue Bears were able to battle back, but each comeback attempt was squashed by unforced errors. The Golden Bulls took the second game 25-16.
The Blue Bears came out with a renewed spirit in the third game as they led early and often. Apart from a 6-6 tie early in the game, Livingstone never played without a lead. Midway through the game Livingstone led 15-11, which forced a Golden Bull timeout. JCSU came out of that timeout and cut the lead to two at 16-14, but Livingstone held strong. Johnson C. Smith made two more small runs late in the game, but the Blue Bears kept their cool and took the third game 25-21.
A bright start to game four gave way to a terrible middle and a spectacular ending for the Blue Bears. The Golden Bulls took the first point of the game before Livingstone took the next four to go up 4-1. Livingstone continued their attack and led 10-4, forcing JCSU to take a timeout. Out of the timeout, JCSU took 13 of 18 points to take a 17-15 lead, which prompted Livingstone to take their first timeout. Livingstone's timeout didn't help them as much as JCSU's did as they dropped the next four points to go down 21-15 and then took another timeout.
Livingstone was faced with game point at 24-20, but got back within two at 24-22 and forced JCSU to take their final timeout. After the Golden Bull timeout, Livingstone took three-straight points to go up 25-24 and have match point. JCSU took the next point, but the Blue Bears held strong and took the final two to take game four 27-25 and the match 4-0.
“We made this match a lot tougher than it should have been,” head coach Reginald Isley said. “It's a sign of immaturity that we didn't put the hammer down on them, but we pulled together at the right time to stage the comeback to win the match.”
Freshman middle hitter Lakitta Hicks led the Blue Bears with 18 kills and a .433 hitting percentage. Sophomore middle hitter Michelle Thompson also added 13 kills and a .423 hitting percentage. Junior setter Shannon Allen had three blocks and 21 assists.
“Hopefully this match gives us confidence,” Isley said. “Lately we haven't had the spark we needed to come back and hopefully this showed the girls that they can pull out these match wins.”
Livingstone will now host Fayetteville State at 6 p.m. on October 13.
