BANNER ELK, NC – The Winston-Salem State Lady Rams (12-13) stalled in a tough three-set loss to the Lees-McRae Bobcats (15-8), Wednesday evening. The Lady Rams gave a solid overall effort, but struggled to stop the Bobcats' service game in the hard-fought loss, 23-25, 16-25, and 18-25.

As a team, the Lady Rams had a solid evening with 34 total kills in the match with 44 digs. The team struggled with 19 errors and 10 receiving errors. WSSU freshman Sydney Holland return to action in a big way with 11 kills and eight digs while fellow freshman outside hitter Jasmine Smith added 10 kills as well. Sophomore defensive specialist Zipporah Foster added a team-high 10 digs in the match.

The Lady Rams' best effort of the night came in the opening set when the team scored 23 points. The set turned out to be a see saw effort with momentum swinging to both sides of the court until the final points. Things looked great for the Lady Rams early with an early 11-8 lead. The team took the lead with a 5-2 run after tying the match, 6-6. However, the Lady Rams fell victim to a drought when they allowed the Bobcats to score five unanswered points and fell behind, 11-13. The Lady Rams once again answered with a six-point run to go ahead 17-13. After going ahead, 22-17, the Lady Rams' momentum ran out as Lees-McRae ended the set with an 8-1 run to take the opening set, 25-23.

Unfortunately for the Lady Rams, there was not much drama in the second set. After taking an early 8-5 lead, the Lady Rams allowed nine straight points to the Bobcats to fall behind, 14-8 and were never able to get back into the set. After falling behind by as many as nine points, the Lady Rams ended the set with the 16-25 loss.

The Lady Rams' struggles began early as the team saw an early 3-1 lead disappear and Lees-McRae jumped out to a 14-7 lead. After falling behind, 12-19, the Lady Rams could never get back into the set and finished the night with the loss.

The Lady Rams will return to Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) competition next week when the team heads to Charlotte, N.C. to take on the Johnson C. Smith Lady Golden Bulls. For more information on Lady Rams volleyball, contact the WSSU Office of Athletic Media Relations at (336) 750-2143 or log on to www.WSSURams.com.