Hoover, Ala. -- The Lady Hawks dropped both matches of the opening day of play at the DII South Region Crossover with the Sunshine States Conference; falling to Tampa and Barry by 3-1 scores in each.

In the first match of the day, errors proved costly as the Lady Hawks fell to Tampa 3-1. The Spartans jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with set wins of 25-22 and 25-20, respectively. Before Shorter (10-8) kept the match going with a 25-22 win in set three. Only to have Tampa (6-10) close out the win with a 25-15 victory in the fourth.

For the match, Shorter posted a .311 hitting percentage; while keeping the Spartans to a .281 clip. While, tallying 56 kills to Tampa's 50. The difference, however, came at the service line as the Spartans posted 7 aces; whereas the Lady Hawks added just one with 10 errors.

The reigning GSC Defensive Player of the Week, Tiffani Estep, led the attack in game one; turning in 14 kills, while hitting .667 for the game She also added six assists and finished with four blocks in the loss.

Danielle Melton also finished in double-figures in kills, posting 11 for the game. Alli Bell turned in 27 assists to go along with 19 from Tinsley Fain; who also added Shorter's lone service ace.

On defense, Cheyenne McLemore led the way with 13 digs, with Morgan Cleveland chipping in 12. Cleveland and Hannah Flack each added two blocks apiece, as well.

The second match of the day, against Barry (8-4), was a back-and-forth affair, but in the end the Lady Hawks fell to the Bucs 3-1. Set scores for the match were 23-25, 26-28, 25-22, and 26-28, respectively; with Shorter taking set three to extend the match.

The Lady Hawks turned their serving around in the nightcap, posting 10 aces for the match including four in each of the first two sets. Kelsi Jones led the effort with three, while Madeline Munroe, Cleveland and Fain each tallied two apiece.

Flack and Munroe led the attack with nine kills each; while Jones added eight and Cleveland finished with seven. Fain posted a team high in assists with 19 to go along with 18 from Bell.

On the receiving end, McLemore and Cleveland chipped in with 23 and 16 digs, respectively. While, Munroe chipped in with 11. And, at the net, Estep turned in four blocks – two solo and two assisted – to go with three from Jones, and two from Cleveland.

The Lady Hawks will be back in action Saturday afternoon at 3:30pm ET, looking for their first win of the week, when they take on No. 19 Saint Leo from the Finley Center in Hoover, Ala.