BELMONT, NC – The Winston-Salem State Rams (17-7) gave it their all, but the team fell short in a four-set loss to the Belmont Abbey Crusaders (16-13), Saturday evening. After taking a 25-23 opening set win, the Rams loss the final three sets of the match, 10-25, 13-25, and 16-25.

As a team, the Rams struggled to find offense against the tough Crusaders defense. For the match, the Rams totaled 26 kills and committed 24 attack errors. The Rams also struggled defensively as they allowed 54 kills as well. WSSU junior outside hitter Teynia Shepherd led the way for the team with 10 kills in the match. Junior defensive specialist led the WSSU defense with 10 digs as well.

The opening set was the best for the team as the Rams. After playing to a 9-9 tie, the Rams broke out for five unanswered points to go ahead 14-9. Belmont Abbey mounted a rally of their own later in the set as they cut the WSSU lead down to three points 22-19. From there, the Rams benefited from some key Belmont Abbey miscues when the team got two of the final three points from Crusader errors.

The final three sets of the match were filled with struggles for the Rams as the team could not reach 20 points in any of the sets. After falling into a nine-point deficit, 5-14, in the second set, the team could never recover and fell 10-25. The third set saw a better effort as the Rams battled to a 7-8 score. However, the team ran into an offensive drought as they only managed two more kills and finished the set with the 13-25 loss. The fourth and final set of the match saw the Rams bounce back from a slow start to tie the set 7-7. The team even managed to build a 14-9 lead. However, the team would only manage two more points in the set as a Shepherd kill and a kill by senior right side hitter Olivia Owens were all they could manage as they finished the day with the 16-25 loss. 

With the loss, the Rams fall to 17-7 and will have a chance to bounce back, Monday evening when they host the Johnson C. Smith Golden Bulls in a 7:00 p.m. match. For more information on Rams volleyball, contact the WSSU Office of Athletic Media Relations at (336) 750-2143 or log on to www.WSSURams.com.