2022 CIAA Volleyball Championship: Shaw, ECSU, FSU, & WSSU Advance to Semifinals

By: CIAA

The Quarterfinals of the 2022 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Volleyball Championship concluded Monday evening with the top four seeds (Shaw, Elizabeth City State, Fayetteville State, and Winston-Salem State) all advancing to the Semifinals in Salem, VA.

The quarterfinal matches all took place on the campuses of the top four seeds from across the conference. The Bears and Broncos earned sweeps while the Vikings and Rams won in hard-fought five-setters.

2022 CIAA Volleyball Championship – Quarterfinals

Game 1: #1 Shaw defeats #8 Claflin, 3-0 (25-9, 25-20, 25-21)

– The No. 1 overall seed in the 2022 CIAA Volleyball Championship showed why in this sweep of the Panthers. In the second set, the Bears were trailing 20-19 before reeling off six straight points and three consecutive kills to claim the set and in the third set, Shaw was trailing 16-15. The Bears were surgical in their attack, finishing with 50 kills and a .266 hitting percentage in three sets. Mallory Brown delivered the final blows with a kill for the 25th point in each of the second and third sets. Brown, a newly minted Second Team All-CIAA selection, finished with 14 kills and 12 digs. Shaw’s Noelani Beard, the CIAA’s Offensive Player of the Year for 2022, recorded 16 digs and 10 kills and first team All-CIAA selection Kamille Patrick ended the match with 16 digs and eight kills. Breelyn Clark, the 2021 and 2022 Setter of the Year from Shaw, logged 43 assists.

FULL GAME RECAP: Brown and Beard Each Put Up Double-Doubles in Bears 3-0 win over Claflin    BOX SCORE: Claflin at Shaw

Game 2: #4 Winston-Salem State defeats #5 Virginia State, 3-2 (25-20, 17-25, 25-22, 21-25, 16-14)

– This was an evenly matched and competitive as it can get for a single-elimination match. The Rams finished with 52 kills, 18 errors and a .209 hitting percentage while the Trojans ended with 53 kills, 20 errors, and a .216 hitting percentage. In the final set, Virginia State rallied from a 12-7 deficit to tie the match at 14-all. Winston-Salem State’s Kaiah Parker earned a kill for match point and a bad set from the Trojans clinched the win for the Rams. Virginia State forced a fifth set by taking the final three points in the fourth set after being up 22-21. The Trojans’ Helena Eubanks had a game-high 16 kills and the Rams were led by 13 kills from Sanaa Lanier and 11 from Rheign Davis. The assist leader for WSSU was Brooke Norwood with 16 and the leader in digs was Myra Wallace with 15.

FULL GAME RECAP: Volleyball Defeats VSU in Five-Set Thriller, Advances to the CIAA Semifinals    BOX SCORE: Virginia State at Winston-Salem State

Game 3: #3 Fayetteville State defeats #6 Virginia Union, 3-0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-21)

– The defending 2021 CIAA Champions advance to the Semifinals with a sweep of the Panthers. On the road for the Quarterfinals, Virginia Union struggled with their placement, finishing with more errors (22) than kills (21) in this match and FSU never trailed at any moment after the fifth point of a set. Cassandra Watson led the Broncos with 11 kills and her 13 digs were second on the team, only to Jordan Johnson’s 14 digs. Second team all-conference selection Jaida Bynum added a team-high 14 assists for Fayetteville State.

FULL GAME RECAP: Broncos secure 3-set sweep over Virginia Union in CIAA Quarterfinals    BOX SCORE: Virginia Union at Fayetteville State

Game 4: #2 Elizabeth City State defeats #7 St. Augustine’s, 3-2

– Elizabeth City State was taken to five sets by the seventh-seeded Falcons but the Vikings pulled the victory out to advance. St. Augustine’s held a 12-11 lead in the fifth set and the Vikings responded with four straight points to avoid the upset.

FULL 2022 CIAA VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET

Shaw advances to take on Winston-Salem State in the first semifinal match on Friday, November 11 at 5:00 p.m. while Fayetteville State will take on Elizabeth City State in the second semifinal match on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Matches will be played at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, VA.

Friday’s winners will meet in the CIAA championship match in the Salem Civic Center on Saturday, November 12 at 6:00 p.m. The 2022 CIAA Volleyball Championship (Semifinals & Championship) at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, VA is free and open to the public.

The Semifinals and the Championship will be live-streamed, available on the CIAA Sports Network at the individual pay-per-view price of $9.95.

To get the latest updates on the CIAA, visit theciaa.com. You can also like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and Instagram and on Twitch. For all updates on the conference tournament, visit the CIAA Volleyball Championship page.