Rust Staves Off Furious Tougaloo Rally For Five-Set Road Triumph

JACKSON, Miss. – The Rust College volleyball program claimed the first two sets, watched Tougaloo storm back to take the next two, then needed extra points to finish the deal in the clincher as the Blue and White snapped a four-game slide in a five-set thriller Thursday night.

The Basics:

• Score
  • Rust – 3
  • Tougaloo – 2
    • 25-21, 25-19, 23-25, 20-25, 16-14

• Records
  • Rust (4-15, 2-4 Gulf Coast)
  • Tougaloo (1-15, 0-6 Gulf Coast)

• Location
  • Jackson, Mississippi – Kroger Gymnasium

• Series History (Since 2021)
  • Rust Leads 4-2 (66.7%)

• Winning Streak (Since 2021)
  • Rust (W4) | Tougaloo's Last Win: October 23, 2021 (3-0)

Rust Top Performers:

• Jamika Coleman went off for a career-high 11 kills (2.20 p/s) and 30 attacks while hitting .233 on the night.

• Coleman was not the top offensive threat however as that title belonged to Gabriella Gabriel with her team-best 13 kills (2.60 p/s) and three service aces (0.60 p/s) while nearly cracking a double-double at a season-most nine digs.

• Saraih Taylor did manage to obtain a double-double herself, giving her four on the season as she accrued 23 assists (4.60 p/s) plus 11 digs (2.20 p/s).

• Deja Campbell nearly set a personal-record with 23 digs (4.60 p/s) to finish one off her career-high, Markeoni Thomas led all match participants with four blocks, and Paige Eason tallied season/team-bests in both digs (15, 3.00 p/s) and aces (3, 0.60 p/s).

• Two milestones / rare occurrences happened in the seesaw affair as libero Annie Narvaez clubbed her second career kill while Brianna Moore took down her first career block.

Notes:

• The Lady Bearcats improved to a superb 6-1 (.857) overall mark and 3-1 (.750) in conference play over the past three seasons in five-set matches.

Next:

• Rust will attempt to beat the Tuskegee University Golden Tigers for the second straight season Tuesday night on the road at 6 p.m. inside the Daniel "Chappie" James Center.