Jonesboro, Georgia-The 2023 SIAC East Division Champion Edward Waters women's volleyball squad opened play in the day's final match of the opening round of the 2023 Cricket SIAC Women's Volleyball Championship held at the Tsunami Volleyball Center. The Lady Tigers matched up with West Division #4 seed Tuskegee for the second time this season and like their first meeting, the Purple & Orange came out victorious with a 3-0 sweep to advance to the semifinal round.

Edward Waters (21-6, 17-2 SIAC) led from the front in each of their three sets, making quick work of the Golden Tigers (9-21, 7-12 SIAC) and cruising to their second straight semifinal round appearance. The Lady Tigers hit a robust .347 on 45 kills, while holding Tuskegee to .046 on 25 kills. EWU also had a 5-2 edge in service aces, a 5-3 edge in blocks, a 42-22 lead in assists, and a 56-39 advantage in digs.

Naomy Vergez Varona led the EWU offensive charge with a double-double effort of 17 kills and 10 digs, while also adding one block. The two-time SIAC Player of the Year Fatima Ramirez chipped in with eight kills, including one service ace, two blocks, and seven digs, while De'Nyla Harlan contributed eight kills for the Lady Tigers. Two-time SIAC Setter of the Year Mataiya Barber dished out a match high 39 assists, while libero Jenieth Guzman dug out 23 digs for EWU in the match.

Edward Waters now turns their attentions to a semifinal matchup with East Division #3 seed Clark Atlanta in their next match with the winner advancing to Saturday's Championship round. First serve is slated for 1:00pm and the match can be seen live on the SIAC Sports YouTube Channel.

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