Seven Volleyball players make collegiate debut
DALLAS – The Wiley College volleyball team opened the 2023 season with seven players seeing their first collegiate action on Tuesday at Paul Quinn College. The Lady Wildcats fell in three sets against Langston University (25-20, 25-18, 25-19) and four sets against Paul Quinn (25-19, 22-25, 25-19, 25-17).
In the opening match, freshmen Ashlee Traylor, T'aja Hardy, Rejinah Hickman, Zykeya Hunt, and Mia Smith started. Brayleigh Mitchell and Shyla Starks came off the bench. Johna Davis led the Lady Wildcats with six kills. Smith assisted on 13 of Wiley College's 18 kills. Hardy put up a team-high eight digs. Mitchell, Hunt and Smith each recorded a solo block and block assist. Hardy, Davis and Smith put down aces.
The Lady Wildcats (0-2) were out-hit .073 to (-).025 and 27-18 in kills. They struggled in the serve-receive game with three aces and eight errors while allowing 15 aces and benefiting from 10 service errors. Wiley College held a three-point lead in the first set off a block by Traylor and Smith and a kill by Smith. Langston took the lead off two kills, a block and an ace. Three attack errors and a receiving error allowed it to pull away.
Wiley College led early in the second set but a block error, two receiving errors and a set error allowed Langston to build a four-point advantage. A kill by Davis and a pair of attack errors brought the Lady Wildcats within one. Langston went on a six-point run to extend the deficit. In the third set, Wiley College never led as it fell behind by four.
Against Paul Quinn, the Lady Wildcats were out-hit .243 to .172 and 54-42 in kills. Starks made her first career start and recorded a double-double with 14 kills and 10 digs. She hit .333 in the match. Mitchell made her first career start and posted 12 kills, two block assists and an ace. Smith provided 33 assists. Hardy led the team with 16 digs, she was followed by Davis who had 13. Traylor had three solo blocks and assisted on two blocks. Hunt tallied three solo blocks and assisted on one.
In the first set, Wiley College fell behind early after allowing six straight points by Paul Quinn with four on kills. A kill by Starks and an attack error pulled it within two but that's as close as it would get. The Lady Tigers would increase the margin to nine to close out the first set.
The Lady Wildcats trailed by four early in the second set. Kills by Starks and Davis and a block by Traylor and Mitchell tied the set at 12. They built a three-point lead with a block and kill by Traylor. Paul Quinn rallied and retook the lead. Trailing 21-20, Mitchell tied the set with a kill. An ace by Starks and a kill by Traylor gave Wiley College a two-point lead. Mitchell sealed the set with a kill. The last two sets were controlled by Paul Quinn as Wiley College briefly led.
The Lady Wildcats will return home and compete in their Labor Day Classic. They'll play an exhibition match against John Melvin University on September 1 at 6 p.m. On September 2, they will face Louisiana Christian University at 10 a.m. and their Highway 80 rival Jarvis Christian University at 2 p.m.
For more coverage on the Lady Wildcats visit Women's Volleyball Home - Wiley College (wileyathletics.com)
#FeartheClaws #LevelUp
FOLLOW THE WILDCATS
Twitter: @WileyAthletics
Facebook: /WileyAthletics
Instagram: @wileycollegeathletics
YouTube: /c/Wiley Wildcats
HBCU+: Channel 115