Box Score

SALISBURY, NC – The Livingstone volleyball team overcame an opening-set loss to down the Johnson C. Smith Golden Bulls 3-1 Monday in a conference tilt.

With the victory the Blue Bears improved to 14-12 overall, 7-7 in the conference and 4-4 in the division.  Johnson C. Smith fell to 4-21 overall, 2-12 in the CIAA and 0-8 in the division.

The first set was a true battle between the two squads.  Johnson C. Smith grabbed an early 3-1 lead.  Livingstone battled back to grab a 5-3 edge and the teams started their back-and-forth affair.  The two teams were all square through 20 points before a 9-4 run by the Golden Bulls gave them a 19-14 lead.  The Blue Bears responded with a 6-1 run of their own to again square the set at 20-20.  Johnson C. Smith quickly squashed that momentum taking five of the next six points to win the opening set 25-21.

Neither team played particularly well in the second set with Johnson C. Smith recording a negative hitting percentage and the Blue Bears with only a .036.  Livingstone took the early lead, grabbing a 12-7 and continued to lead at 15-11, but five straight points by the Golden Bulls gave JCSU at 16-15 edge.  The two teams went back and forth with neither able to gain more than a two-point cushion.  Livingstone staved off set point at 24-23 to eventually win the second set 27-25.

Johnson C. Smith came out very strong in the third set, jumping out to a 13-7 lead over the Blue Bears, forcing Livingstone to take a timeout.  Out of the break, the Blue Bears came on strong, takings seven straight points to take a 14-13 lead.  Livingstone outscored the Golden Bulls 18-5 over the remainder of the third set to win 25-18 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.

The fourth and final set went completely the Blue Bears way.  Livingstone pounded the Golden Bulls early, jumping out to an 11-2 lead.  Johnson C. Smith fought back to get within four at 15-11, but couldn't get any closer.  Livingstone turned back up the pressure to take the fourth set 25-15 and the match 3-1.

Phylicia Egbuna led the Blue Bears with a double-double with 19 kills, 11 digs and a .241 hitting percentage.  Egbuna also finished with 2.5 total blocks.  Iman Isom led the Blue Bears with 26 digs while Natalia Felix had a career-high 38 assists.

As a team the Blue Bears finished with 51 kills and a .132 hitting percentage including 41 assists, 16 service aces, 87 digs and seven team blocks.

The Blue Bears will next head to Raleigh, NC for a 6 p.m. match against the Falcons of St. Augustine's College on Wednesday.