WINSTON-SALEM, NC – The Winston-Salem State Rams (18-13, 13-3 CIAA) closed on the regular season in dominating fashion when the team took a three-set win over the Livingstone Blue Bears (8-17, 5-11 CIAA), Friday evening. The Rams made short work of the Blue Bears as the team rolled from beginning to end, 25-12, 25-19, and 25-12.

The Rams looked as good as they have all season when they took the win with one of their top overall efforts of the season. As a team, the Rams were especially impressive offensively with 47 kills with four service aces. Defensively, the Rams added a great effort as well as they held their opponents to just 18 kills. WSSU senior middle blocker Jocelyn Mills led the way with 14 kills in the match while fellow senior outside hitter Teynia Shepherd added 13 kills. Defensively, freshman libero Makala Lytton led the WSSU defense with 17 digs while junior outside hitter Jasmine Smith added three total blocks (one solo).

The opening set was especially impressive for the Rams as the team cruised early. The team was especially impressive in the beginning when the Rams established themselves with a 12-2 lead to open the set. After holding on to their 10-point lead, the Rams really stepped things up with a three-point run that put the team on top, 19-7, its largest lead of the set. A Livingstone rally would cut the WSSU lead down to single digits, 19-10. However, the Rams would rally to push their lead back to 12 points, 23-11 before the team closed things out on a 2-1 run with back-to-back kills from Shepherd and sophomore middle blocker Christa Brown that ended the 25-12 set win.

The second set was the toughest one for the Rams as both teams came out with some great efforts. The Rams and Blue Bears both came out strong as they played to a 7-7 tie before the Rams broke free for three straight scores on a pair of kills from Mills and one from Snow to take a 10-7 lead. Livingstone soon answered with a four-point rally of their own that gave the Rams trailing for the first time, 12-13. It was then that the Rams mounted an impressive 7-1 rally to jump back into the lead, 21-15. Later in the set, Livingstone added a pair of scores late, but the Rams soon closed out the effort on another set-point kill from Brown to cap a two-point WSSU run and to take the 25-19 set win.

After winning the opening two sets, the Rams kept their momentum going to claim the three-set victory. The Rams opened the set in a big way once again as they jumped out to a 12-3 lead to open the set. After pushing their lead to 13-5, the Rams exploded with six straight points to go ahead 20-5, their largest lead of the night. The run included a pair of kills from Smith and a service ace from redshirt-sophomore Donysha Collins. After holding their lead a 23-8, the Rams allowed a 4-1 rally by the Blue Bears that cut the WSSU lead down to 12 points, 23-11 before the team allowed one more Livingstone point which was followed by a Shepherd kill that wrapped up the three-set victory.

With the win, the Rams close out the 2016 regular season with an 18-13 overall record and a 13-3 record in Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) play. The Rams will take a break for now before opening play in the 2016 CIAA Volleyball Championship Tournament, Thursday. 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.