Volleyball falls to Philander Smith in regular season finale

The Wiley College volleyball team was unable to match Philander Smith University in a three-set loss (25-18, 25-13, 25-17) Saturday at Alumni Gymnasium.

The Lady Wildcats (6-17, 6-10 GCAC) fall to 2-8 at home. They were outhit .253 to .030 and outscored 35-29 in kills. For the second straight match, Wiley College didn't record an ace. It gave up eight aces and made four errors.

Brayleigh Mitchell led the Lady Wildcats with 10 kills. Shyla Starks and Kya Gray followed with six. In her final home match, LeAndria Jackson put up 14 assists. Nadia Cortez tallied 11 digs. Shayla Arthur shared the team lead in blocks with Ashlee Traylor at three.

Wiley College gave up the first 11 points of the match. Kills by Starks and Gray sparked a six-point run which helped close the gap to four. Five kills by Philander Smith sealed the set.

The Lady Wildcats were unable to gain the lead in the second set. A kill by Mitchell and a block by Arthur pulled them within two. They made two attack errors and allowed two kills to increase the deficit to six. Another four-point run helped the Lady Panthers take the set.

Facing a must-win, Wiley College started strong in the third set. A kill by Jackson and a block from Arthur and Gray gave the Lady Wildcats a three-point lead. Philander Smith went on an 11-point run with four coming on receiving errors by the Lady Wildcats.

Wiley College will now head to its second GCAC Volleyball Championship at Bossier Parish Community College. It earned the sixth seed and will play the third seed on November 6 at 2 p.m.

For more coverage on the Lady Wildcats visit https://wileyathletics.com/sports/wvball/index

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