Box Score
SALISBURY, NC – The Livingstone volleyball team dropped its first conference game of the season Thursday evening at the hands of the St. Augustine's Falcons 3-0 (25-18, 25-20 and 25-23).
Livingstone fell behind early in the first game and struggled to recover. The Falcons got out to an early 6-3 lead and extended the advantage to 15-10. The Blue Bears mustered a small comeback and got within two at 15-13, but a 5-0 run by St. Augustine's gave the Falcons a 20-13 edge, a lead they didn't relinquish. St. Augustine's took the first game 25-18.
An early deficit in the second game again spelled trouble for the Blue Bears. St. Augustine's grabbed a 10-6 lead early and extended it to 18-10. Small runs by the Blue Bears were met by bigger runs from the Falcons. The Falcons had game point in hand at 24-15 and the Blue Bears were able to battle back to 24-20, but it went no further and St. Augustine's took the second game 25-20.
The Blue Bears returned to the court for game three as an inspired group and came out fighting. The first 20 points were hotly contested and Livingstone held a slim 12-8 advantage. The game remained close at 15-15 before the Blue Bears took four straight points to go up 19-15. Livingstone continued to lead at 22-18, but the Falcons took seven of the last eight points to take the third game 25-23 and the match 3-0.
Senior Michelle Thompson led the Blue Bears with 11 kills while fellow senior Lashaundra Ferguson had 10 kills and a .368 hitting percentage. Senior Shannon Allen had 18 assists and six blocks for the Blue Bears.
As a team the Blue Bears had 29 kills, 17 errors and a .154 hitting percentage along with 23 assists, seven service aces, 22 digs and 9.5 team blocks. The Falcons had 35 kills, 17 errors and a .222 hitting percentage along with 30 assists, eight service aces, 32 digs and four team blocks.
With the loss the Blue Bears fell to 5-3 overall, 3-1 in the conference and 0-1 in the southern division.
The Blue Bears will return to the court in the second weekend of the 2010 volleyball round-up on Saturday at Fayetteville State. The Blue Bears will compete against Chowan, St. Paul's and Elizabeth City on Saturday and Virginia State on Sunday.
