LORMAN, Miss. - Four Alcorn State University volleyball student-athletes recorded five or more kills, but the team dropped a straight-set contest (25-15, 25-23, 25-14) to defending SWAC Champion Jackson State Saturday afternoon inside the Davey L. Whitney Complex.
Junior Lurlethia Jones spearheaded the Lady Braves (2-13, 1-5 SWAC) offense with eight kills followed by juniors Brittney Dumas and Heather Jackson with seven and fellow junior Dnada Smith with five.
Senior setter Sydney Mellom notched 19 assists, five digs and all three of Alcorn's service aces. Senior libero Carol Kiam-Assato totaled 13 digs, marking her fifth straight game with a double-digit dig total.
The Lady Braves took control early in the opening frame, scoring the first four points behind strong serving from Mellom. After Lady Tigers (3-15, 3-4 SWAC) attacker Desiree Mack's attack error gave Alcorn a 12-7 advantage, JSU ripped off 12 straight points including three aces from libero Tyler Moorer to pull away.
The second set featured 12 ties and six lead changes. A kill from Jackson tied the second stanza at 23 before the Lady Tigers closed the set on a Takisha Barry kill and Jones attack error. Kiam-Assato kept the Lady Braves in the set, saving seven attack attempts.
The third set started with Alcorn scoring just three of the first 11 points. JSU took advantage of three Dayjah Stewart kills and 10 Lady Braves attacking errors to close out the match on a 17-11 run.
Alcorn returns to the court next weekend in SWAC road matches against Texas Southern and Prairie View A&M.
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