Shreveport – The Centenary volleyball team continued its best start to a season in the division III era on Tuesday evening as the Ladies swept the Grambling State University Lady Tigers in straight sets in a non-conference match at the Gold Dome.
The Ladies (7-6) have now won a season-high four consecutive matches and won each 3-0. Grambling fell to 3-7 with Tuesday's loss. The 2017 Ladies also got off to a 7-6 start as that team and this version are tied for the best starts in the current D3 era (2011-present). The Ladies took set one, 25-23, then claimed a 25-22 win in set two and closed out the match with a 25-20 score in set three.
The Maroon and White were impressive all night in the victory over a division 1 opponent, and played as well as they have all season in recording arguably the biggest win in head coach Ashley McDonough's tenure. Centenary swept Williams Baptist in a doubleheader at home on Sept. 11, then swept Jarvis Christian last Wedensday at home. Centenary evened the season series after falling to the Lady Tigers, 3-1, in the previous meeting between the teams back on Sept. 7 in Grambling.
Senior OH Alyssa Davis (Leonard, Texas) had a superb match as she registered a team high in kills (17) and had 16 digs and one ace. Davis entered the match ranked third in the league in kills and is the team leader in both kills and digs. She has now recorded double digits in kills eight times and in digs seven times this season. Davis, who entered the season ranked second in career kills in the D3 era (2011-present) now has 909 and can top 1,000 in her career this season.
Sophomore DS/L Tori Ligman (Bossier City, La.) led the way in digs with 17 while junior DS Mariah Martinez (San Antonio, Texas) added 10 digs and had a team-high 25 assists. Junior MB Liz Lowe (San Antonio, Texas) had a solid match with nine digs and nine kills with two aces.
Senior MB Elizabeth Epley (Nashville, Tenn.) turned in an impressive performance as she tallied six kills and five digs. Freshman RS Jaylin St. Martin (New Orleans, La.) had six kills, three digs, and an assist. Senior S Marichael Clarin-Jante (Houston, Texas) recorded 17 assists, four digs, and one ace as she added to her assist total after entering the match ranked fourth in the conference in the category.
The Ladies registered 67 digs in the match along with 46 kills. They recorded 44 assists and six aces. The 67 digs is the fourth-most in a single match all season Centenary had 18 kills in the second set to finish with a .240 hitting percentage.
The Ladies will face Louisiana College on Wednesday, Sept. 22 at 6 p.m. Centenary will then hit the road to play three matches this weekend in Texas. The Ladies will face Dallas Christian on Friday, Sept. 24 (6 p.m.) and then Dallas and Austin College on Saturday, Sept. 25 in Irving, Texas in matches set for Noon and 3 p.m.
See the Ladies' complete 2021 season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/wvball/2021-22/schedule
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