ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. — Winston-Salem (17-13, 13-9 CIAA) lost to Elizabeth City St. (17-18, 13-8 CIAA) 3-2 on Monday at Rocky Mount Event Center during the CIAA Quarterfinal game. The Rams won the first and third sets 26-24 and 25-22 but dropped the second, fourth and fifth 20-25, 17-25 and 10-15.
The Rams moved in front 5-3 in the first set behind kills from
Alyssa Noble and
Holiday Ellis, but Elizabeth City St. answered with seven straight points to take a 10-5 lead. WSSU worked back within 12-10 on a
Kalyn Cuthbertson ace and an
Aria Caldwell kill, though Elizabeth City St. later stretched the margin to 20-16. Caldwell's kill started a late Rams push, and WSSU tied it at 21-21 on
Sarah Sanders' block before going ahead 22-21 on an Elizabeth City St. attack error. Elizabeth City St. tied the set three more times, including at 24-24, but Caldwell put the Rams back in front with a kill and a final attack error closed a 26-24 first-set win.
WSSU erased an early 4-1 deficit by winning seven of the next eight points, getting kills from
Zoe Chesson and Ellis and a block by Noble and Chesson to move ahead 8-5. Elizabeth City St. answered to tie the set at 8-8, later built a 16-11 lead, and still led 18-15 after the Rams trimmed the margin behind a
Sarah Sanders kill and a Chesson-Sanders block. WSSU pulled even at 19-19 on an Elizabeth City St. service error and attack error, but Elizabeth City St. scored five straight points to reach 24-19 before closing the set 25-20.
The Rams opened the third set with three straight points, including a Noble block and two Ellis kills, before Elizabeth City St. worked back and moved ahead 9-6 on a Kendall Washington kill.
Zoe Chesson's kill and an Elizabeth City St. setting error pulled WSSU even at 9-9, and after a Jazzmyn Davis kill, the Rams scored four straight points with a Sanders kill, a Caldwell kill and an attack error to take a 13-10 lead. Elizabeth City St. answered with four consecutive points to go up 14-13, and the set stayed tight through ties at 18-18, 20-20 and 22-22. WSSU closed the set with the final three points, reaching set point on a Davis attack error and finishing the 25-22 win on a Cameron Mitrovich attack error.
After Elizabeth City St. opened the fourth set with three straight points, the Rams answered with a Chesson kill, a
Celina Johnson block and an Ellis kill to tie it 3-3, then moved in front 5-4 after a Noble kill and an Elizabeth City St. attack error. Elizabeth City St. came back with four straight points for an 8-5 lead, including consecutive kills by Jazzmyn Davis. WSSU got back within 9-8 on a Caldwell kill and a Davis attack error, but Elizabeth City St. stretched the lead to 16-9 behind Kendall Washington kills and Rams errors. Ellis added three kills during WSSU's next scoring stretch, but Elizabeth City St. reached 24-15 on a Davis kill and closed the set 25-17 on another Washington kill.
Elizabeth City St. opened the fifth set with three straight points before WSSU answered with kills from
Jewel Pitt and Ellis to get within 3-2. Elizabeth City St. kept the lead through the middle of the set, using kills by Kendall Washington, Golden Brown and Nnea Williams around a Rams response from Caldwell to move ahead 11-7. WSSU cut into the margin late with a block by Chesson and Noble and two kills from
Skylar White, but Elizabeth City St. got a Brown kill for 14-9 and a Washington kill to close the set 15-10.
Elizabeth City St. finished with 73 kills to the Rams' 52 and hit .202 compared with .102 for WSSU, while the Rams had 11 total blocks to Elizabeth City St.'s eight and committed two service errors compared with eight. WSSU also produced several set-level swings, with Game Beats recording three separate sets in which the Rams moved from trailing to leading, but Elizabeth City St. held advantages in kills, assists and digs over the full match.
Rams Top Performers
Kalyn Cuthbertson
- 19 digs
- 4 assists
- 1 service ace
Zaria Keys
- 23 assists
- 12 digs
- 1 service ace
Jewel Pitt
- 16 digs
- 2 kills
- 1 assist
Aria Caldwell
- 10 kills
- 3 block assists
- 11.5 points
- 6 digs
Alyssa Noble
- 7 kills
- .235 hitting percentage
- 3 blocks
- 9.0 points
For more information on Winston-Salem State Athletics and its 12 varsity sports, visit wssurams.com.
