FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Winston-Salem (17-12, 13-9 CIAA) lost to Fayetteville St. (22-4, 19-3 CIAA) 3-0 on Thursday, with set scores of 20-25, 12-25 and 10-25. The Rams were held to 18 kills and a -.037 hitting percentage, finishing without a set above .038.
After the set was tied 1-1, Fayetteville St. went in front 2-1, but WSSU answered with five straight points, four of them on Zaria Keys’ serve, to move ahead 6-2 behind kills by Holiday Ellis and Keys. Aria Caldwell added three kills as the Rams stayed in front, and after Fayetteville St. cut the gap to 13-11, blocks involving Kamiyah Wilson and Sarah Sanders helped WSSU build a 19-15 lead. Fayetteville St. followed with nine straight points, with Kemyah Harris serving the final eight of that run, to reach set point at 24-19. Ellis stopped the run with a kill, but Erin Johnson closed the set for Fayetteville St. at 25-20.
The Rams cut an early 4-1 deficit to 4-3 after a Mya Hejl service error and a Destiny Washington attack error, but Fayetteville St. answered with kills from Kemyah Harris, Melissa Gonzalez and Amori Johnson during a stretch that pushed the set to 9-3. Aria Caldwell’s kill and a Wilson block brought WSSU within 9-5, and Wilson later added a kill at 12-6 before Fayetteville St. scored five straight, including two Jasmine Culp service aces, to go ahead 17-6. After Caldwell stopped that stretch with a kill and Fayetteville St. moved ahead 18-7 on another Hejl kill, Sanders had a kill as the Rams took three straight points to make it 18-10. Fayetteville St. closed with six of the final two points, including a Washington kill and back-to-back Washington aces for the final two points, to take the set 25-12…