16th-ranked Lady Senators stay unbeaten in TCCAA play with win over Roane State

MORRISTOWN, TN – No. 16 Walters State remained undefeated in TCCAA play on Tuesday evening, grabbing a 3-1 (29-27, 24-26, 25-18, 26-24) victory over Roane State.

With the win, the Lady Senators improved to 12-3 overall and 2-0 in TCCAA play.

"I thought we came out the gate slow," Walters State coach Megan Blaylock said. "It's always good to come out with a win in the conference, but we have to start quicker and play with more consistency. I was proud of the team for being able to pull out that final set." 

Things started well in the opening set for Walters State as Finley Surber had a kill and Lauren Mims an ace to give the Lady Senators a 3-0 lead. It was 5-2 after a kill from Veda Barton, but Roane State scored three straight to tie things up. The set was tied at six and seven, but Walters State rallied off four straight to go up 11-7. 

The lead continued to grow thanks to two kills from Alyssa Campbell, and it was 15-9 following a kill by Mims. However, Roane State would not go away and cut it to 17-15. A Barton kill and Surber block got Walters State back on track, but the Lady Raiders scored seven straight points to soar ahead 22-19.

The Lady Senators finally broke the rally with two straight points and the two teams were tied at 23, 24 and 25. Walters State fought off set point at 26-25 but missed out on two set points of their own. At 28-27, the Lady Senators finally converted on set point and took a 1-0 lead. 

In the second set, Walters State again broke out to an early lead thanks to kills by Mims, Campbell and Surber. Following the two teams trading the lead twice, the Lady Senators scored three straight at 10-10 to take a little bit of control. The lead increased to 16-11 after a kill by Mims and an ace by Mims, but Walters State again struggled to close out the set and Roane State tied it at 19.

The Lady Senators were on the verge of taking the set at 24-21, but Roane State scored five straight points to win the set and tie the match. 

In set three, the Lady Senators scored nine of the first 10 points. During the run, Catherine Sweeney had a kill, Payton Brown had two aces, Mims had two kills and Barton had a kill. The lead got to 13-2 following back-to-back aces by Emma Miller, and it was 17-5 after a kill by Campbell. 

Roane State attempted to fight back into the set, and made it 24-18. However, the Lady Senators got the final point and went up 2-1 with a 25-18 set three win.

In the final set, the Lady Senators jumped ahead 8-2 thanks to two kills from Mims, a kill from Olivia Brown and an ace from Payton Brown. Roane State tied the set at 13, and the two teams were tied at 14, 17, 18 and 19. Roane State jumped ahead 23-20, but a block by Campbell highlighted three straight points to tie the set back up. Roane State had set point at 24-23, but a kill by Sweeney tied things back up. The Lady Senators got two straight points right after and won the set and match.

Up Next:

Walters State will stay in the conference on Thursday, hosting Cleveland State at 6:30 p.m.