A total team effort on the court gave the Lincoln University women's volleyball team their first win of the 2019 season as they defeated St. Augustine's 3-1 in their final match at the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) roundup hosted by Virginia State University in Ettrick, Virginia.
 
The Lions won the first two sets against the Falcons 25-22 and 25-23 before dropping the third set 25-18.  Lincoln roared back to take the fourth set 25-18 and secure the match win. The win was their first ever in 11 tries against the Falcons and gave the Lions a split of their two Sunday matches as LU dropped their opening match of the day to Johnson C. Smith University 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-21). 
 
Lincoln is now 1-9 overall and 1-4 in CIAA contests.
 
Tymera Crudup (Barnegat, N.J./Barnegat) became the third Lincoln player to record 30 or more digs in a match with 30 against the Falcons.  The 30 digs was one shy one the school record of 31 set by Erika Bell (Owings Mills, Md./Baltimore Polytechnic Institute HS) (2012) and Sydney Cook (Portland, OR/Cleveland HS) (2013).  Tierra Russaw (Westland, Mich./Summit Academy) recorded her first double-double of the season with 29 assists and 15 digs.
 
Offensively the Lions were paced by Kaiya Lewis' (Woodhaven, N.Y./Queens Preparatory Academy) 11 kills.  Jasmin Lewis (Baltimore/Western) and Mikhi Wright (Philadelphia, Pa./Phila. HS for Girls) added seven apiece. On the defensive end, Lewis and Russaw had three blocks apiece while Wright added 17 digs.
 
In the opening set the Lions trailed by five midway through the set before using a 6-1 rally to tie the game at 16-16.  The Falcons scored five straight points lead 21-16 before the Lions again rallied, outscoring SAU down the stretch 9-1 to take the first set 25-22.
 
The second set played out in similar fashion,  The Lions were down 17-10 and used a 9-2 run to tie the score at 19-19.  Lincoln scored four of the final five points to go up 2-0 in the match with a 25-23 win.
 
Following a 25-19 loss in the third set, the Lions came out strong in the fourth set, leading wire-to-wire in their 25-18 win to complete the victory over the Falcons. Six different players recorded a kill in the set with no one player recording more than three.  The Lions led by as many as nine points (19-10) before the Falcons closed the gap to 20-15.  A Falcon service error and a kill from Jasmin Lewis (Baltimore/Western) brought the Lions two points closer to victory.  Princess Robinson (Oxon Hill, Md./Oxon Hill) added a kill and Kaiya Lewis (Woodhaven, N.Y./Queens Preparatory Academy) delivered a kill for the final point to clinch the win.
 
In their opening match of the day, the Lions shuffled their lineup following their struggles against Shaw.  The new lineup and rotation worked and Lincoln played Johnson C. Smith close throughout entire match.  The Lions however fell just short of victory, losing the three set match by a combined total of ten points (25-23, 25-21, 25-21).
 
Kaiya Lewis (Woodhaven, N.Y./Queens Preparatory Academy) led the Lions with eight kills while Kaymoni Kent (Philadelphia, Pa./W.B. Saul (Community Coll. Of Philadelphia)) added four.  Russaw moved back to setting the offense and had 17 assists and Jasmin Lewis (Baltimore/Western) served up three aces.
 
On the defensive side Crudup had ten digs while Jasmin Lewis (Baltimore/Western) added six and Sage Polee (Pikesville, Md./Millford Mill Academy) five.  Kaiya Lewis (Woodhaven, N.Y./Queens Preparatory Academy) led the team with four blocks.
 
The women's volleyball team returns to action on Tuesday, October 8, 2019 when they host Bowie State University at Manuel Rivero Gymnasium.  Tipoff is at 6 p.m.