SSU Volleyball Starts New Season
The Savannah State volleyball team started their 2023 season with a 3-0 loss to Albany State on September 6 in Tiger Arena. The Rams defeated SSU by scores of 16-25, 24-26 and 19-25.
Allena Norton led Savannah State with ten kills and five blocks. Sydney Harville and Jessee Grubesic had 13 assists apiece. Kloe Ludy had 24 digs followed by Destinee Langston (14) and AaLiyah Mitchell (13).
On Sept. 9, the Lady Tigers traveled to Augusta to participate in the Paine Tri- Match. SSU came home victorious, defeating Carolina University 3-1 and Paine 3-0. Savannah State topped Carolina with scores of 19-25, 25-13, 31-29 and 25-21. SSU won all three sets against Paine (25-15, 25-20 and 25-20).
Langston had 20 kills, 20 digs and five aces to lead SSU against Carolina. Norton added 13 kills and four blocks, Mitchell had five aces and Ludy had 20 digs. Grubesic had 31 assists and Harville had 14.
In the match with Paine, Langston led Savannah State with 12 kills and 2 aces. Dorothea Ruffin had 2 blocks and Ludy had 10 digs. Grubesic had 18 assists and Harville had 12.
Savannah State (2-1, 0-1 SIAC) traveled to Benedict on Sept. 11 but will return home on Sept. 13 to face Paine in Tiger Arena at 6 p.m.
Tigers Lose To Bethune-Cookman 31-6
Luke Sprague came off the bench to lead the Bethune-Cookman football team to a 31-6 win over Savannah State in a game played on September 9 at Municipal Stadium in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Sprague finished the game completing 23 of 29 passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns.
Savannah State had 273 yards of offense in the contest but their only points came on a pair of fields goals from Kenneth Lockhart.
Neither team scored any points in the first quarter but the Wildcats struck first with a little over four minutes left in the first half when Jouvensly Bazil ran for a 13 yard touchdown for a 7-0 lead. SSU finished the half with a 61 yard drive that saw Lockhart boot a 26 yard field goal as time expired.
On their first possession of the third quarter, the Tigers marched 59 yards in nine plays that resulted in Lockhart kicking a 37 yard field goal with 10:10 left in the quarter to slice their deficit to 7-6.
The rest of the game belonged to the Wildcats as they reeled off 24 unanswered points. B-CU scored two touchdowns in the third quarter and added a field goal and a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
The crowd of 6,938 saw SSU fall to 1-1 on the season while the Wildcats picked up their first win for new head coach Raymond Woodie to even their mark at 1-1.
Quarterback Jadon Adams completed 15 of 29 passes for 184 yards, all career highs, for the Tigers while tailback Joseph Hampton ran the ball nine times for a personal best 53 yards. Da’Shun Mitchell had five receptions for 64 yards. Deon Bell and Tavare Brewton each was in on eight tackles to pace the defense. Bell also had 2.5 tackles for loss while Dreshawn Dawkins had seven tackles, a forced fumble and a interception and Ameer Phillips had a pair of sacks.
SSU, who had 14 penalties for 78 yards in their first game against Southeastern, had nine penalties for 95 yards in the B-CU game and surrendered 387 yards of offense to the Wildcats.
With their non-conference games out of the way, Savannah State heads home to play their home and conference opener against Clark Atlanta University (0-2) on Sept. 16 at Theodore A. Wright Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m.
