After going 2-1 in the West Cluster that they hosted to start the season, the Tuskegee University Volleyball team faced their first bit of true adversity when they participated in the SIAC Crossover Tournament this past weekend in Frankfort, Kentucky.  Tarsha Askew's team went 2-4, dropping the opening two matches of their road trip at a neutral site, before rallying to nearly win three out of their last four matches until they dropped a heartbreaker in five sets.  Tuskegee's final opponent was a game Benedict College team that would remain undefeated at 8-0 to start the season.

What follows are box scores from every match that was played chronologically, along with a match recap for every team that the Tigerettes squared up against this past weekend.

Albany State University - 3	21	25	26	25
Tuskegee University - 1	25	19	24	18

Box Score
Tuskegee came out strong to win the opening set, but Albany was able to fight back in the second set, and eventually go on to win a nailbiter in the third set.  This set the tone for the rest of the contest, allowing the Lady Rams to take away all of the Tigerettes' momentum.

Pamela Allen had 12 kills in a losing effort, while Tanesha Foster had a match high 25 digs.  It was not enough to hold off Albany State, which had three players with ten or more kills and four players with ten or more digs.

Claflin University - 3	25	25	25
Tuskegee University - 0	18	14	17

Box Score
The emotional loss in the first match seemed to have a mental effect on Tuskegee, as they were defeated in just 63 minutes during Thursday night's match against Claflin.  Allen once again led TU in kills, but only had five.  By comparison, three Lady Panthers had higher kill totals than Allen, led by Chiquita Rivers' nine for the winning team.

Foster, along with Claflin's Courtney Person, both had outstanding defensive efforts, finishing with 16 kills each for their respective teams.  Rachel Brownlee had six kills of her own in the losing cause.

Tuskegee University - 3	18	25	25	25
Fort Valley State University - 1	25	16	16	20

Box Score
Tuskegee started off a big Saturday with a morning victory over Fort Valley State, even though they had to wake up a little after dropping the opening set.  Allen and Kristal Woodard each had seven kills, and Foster had a ridculous dig total, as she finished with 27 for the match.  Woodard also had a match high four service aces.

Briana Shepherd had a match high of ten kills in the losing effort for the Lady Cats, but things began to go Tuskegee's way after winning the second set.  During this time, Fort Valley State had an attack percentage of -.214.

Clark Atlanta University - 3	25	25	25
Tuskegee University - 0	20	17	10

Box Score
Tuskegee hit the low of their season during the second match on Saturday, suffering their worst loss of the season to reigning SIAC Champion Clark Atlanta.  The Tigerettes were ushered off of the court in just 55 minutes, and their highest attack percentage in any set was just over nine percent.

Woodard had seven kills, but Foster was held to under ten digs for the first time during the weekend, as she finished with nine.  The Lady Panthers dominated the net, as kills were heavily in their favor by a count of 37-19.

Tuskegee University - 3	22	25	25	25
Paine College - 1	25	23	16	15

Box Score
The Tigerettes were able to shake off the loss to Clark Atlanta rather quickly, ending Saturday night on a high note after winning three straight sets to take out the Lady Lions.  Brownlee had ten kills to lead Tuskegee, and teammate Ashley Mason had ten digs in a solid defensive effort.

Tuskegee's attack percentage improved as the match got moved on deeper in length, and it peaked at 35 percent in the fourth and deciding set.  Paine's attack percentage never got higher than four percent at any given point in this particular matchup.

Benedict College - 3	25	25	23	25	15
Tuskegee University - 2	19	22	25	27	7

Box Score
The overall success or failure of the SIAC Crossover Tournament for the Tigerettes would rest with this single match.  In many ways, there were multiple similarities to Tuskegee's final match during the West Cluster (against LeMoyne-Owen) to start the season.  However, the major difference is that after this particular match was deadlocked through four sets, TU could just not find the energy to complete the comeback after winning two emotional sets back-to-back in nailbiting fashion.

Foster had a match high 14 digs in a losing effort, while four Tuskegee players had a minimum of eight kills during the contest.  Cheyanne Williams led this quartet with a team high of ten.  But, Benedict was led by the powerful duo of Lorena Leao and Terae Sweeting.  These girls had kill totals of 17 and 14, respectively.  Ashley Jackson had a mind boggling 46 assists, as the Lady Tigers were able to pull away from Tuskegee in the final set.

Tuskegee (4-5) will see their first opponent in the West Division since participating in the three-game West Cluster to start the season when they return home on Wednesday.  The Tigeretees will get the opportunity to go back to .500 when they host the Lady Bears of Miles College, in a match that starts at 6:00 p.m.