Winston-Salem State Lady Rams (4-29) gave their best effort of the season, but fell just short in a five-set loss to the South Carolina State Lady Bulldogs (12-15), Sunday afternoon.

After opening the match with a pair of tough losses in the first two sets, the Lady Rams showed their tenacity battling back to force the match into five sets.

The Lady Rams opened the match on a down note with a pair of tough losses in the opening sets. The Lady Rams fell, 22-25 and 19-25. Though the Lady Rams matched South Carolina State's kills totals for the first two sets, the team could not seem to get the points that counted in the two sets.

The Lady Rams were able to reverse the trend in the next two sets, forcing 18 South Carolina State hitting errors in the third and fourth sets and taking a pair of set wins, 25-20 and 25-21. The third set was critical from beginning to end with neither team taking more than a one point lead until the final points of the match.  

The WSSU tandem of senior Annika Barnwell and Ashley Harris led the way for the Lady Rams with 34 of the Lady Rams' 54 kills. Barnwell led the way with 20 kills while Harris added a double-double 14 points and 12 digs. Fellow junior Erica Cole added a career-high 21 digs and seven kills. Sophomore Alexandria Brown coordinated the effort with 47 assists in the loss.

The Lady Rams will return to action on Tuesday when the team heads to nearby High Point, North Carolina to take on the High Point Panthers on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.