RALEIGH, N.C. – The Shaw University women's volleyball team opened conference play in convincing fashion, sweeping Johnson C. Smith 3–0 (25–10, 25–8, 25–12) Thursday evening inside historic C.C. Spaulding Gymnasium. With the victory, the Lady Bears improved to 3–2 overall and 1–0 in CIAA play.

Shaw set the tone early with a dominant first set, hitting .348 with 12 kills while forcing 6 Golden Bulls attack errors. The Lady Bears closed the frame 25–10 behind balanced play at the net and five service aces. The second set was even more one-sided, as Shaw hit a remarkable .737 with 14 kills on just 19 swings, cruising to a 25–8 win. Shaw completed the sweep in the third set 25–12, sealing the conference-opening victory.

MaKayla Brown powered the offense with 11 kills on a .391 hitting percentage while adding a block and an ace for 13 points. Makaylah Simmons was equally efficient, tallying 9 kills on a .538 clip. Asia Olivera chipped in 7 kills on 9 attempts, hitting .667. Setter contributions came from both Jakya Moore (12 assists, 3 service aces, 2 digs) and Justus Alexander (16 assists, 3 aces, 3 digs).

Defensively, libero Kalia Morris anchored the back row with 17 digs and 3 service aces. Khori Viltz added 9 digs and 3 aces, while Leana Gould made her presence felt at the net with 2 blocks and a kill. As a team, Shaw posted 41 digs, 13 service aces, and 5 total team blocks while holding JCSU to a -.063 hitting percentage for the match.

Johnson C. Smith was limited to just 12 total kills, with Lapri Cromer leading the Golden Bulls with 4.

The Lady Bears return to action on Monday, September 29, when they host Winston-Salem State at 6 p.m. inside historic Spaulding Gymnasium.