LORMAN, Miss. - The Alcorn State University volleyball program dropped straight-set decisions to two of the top-five teams in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, Prairie View A&M University and Texas Southern University, this weekend at the Davey L. Whitney Complex.
The Lady Braves (2-22, 1-14) lost 25-16, 25-22, 25-19 to the Lady Panthers (9-16, 8-7 SWAC) Friday despite nine kills from junior Heather Jackson.
Alcorn committed six attacking errors and earned just four kills during the opening frame where Prairie View slammed 17 kills including a 5-for-6 effort from Calli Jorden Hensch.
The Lady Braves rebounded for 11 kills in the second stanza. Jackson made her mark with five kills on eight attempts (.625).
Alcorn made a 3-0 run to cut the deficit to three late in the set at 19-16. The Lady Panthers then surged for four straight behind two Hensch service aces to push the lead to six at 23-17.
The Lady Braves responded by scoring three consecutive points capped by a Jackson kill to make the set close again at 23-20. Prairie View, however, closed it out at 24-22 on a kill from Randi Hunter.
Alcorn started slow in the deciding set, dropping the first four points. The Lady Panthers' go-to attacker Taylor Goudeau connected for seven kills as they never lost the lead and swung .310 (14-5-29) on their path to victory.
Senior libero Carol Kiam-Assato ended the match with 16 digs, the most among all student-athletes.
The Lady Braves were then tasked with facing the second-ranked team in the SWAC, the Lady Tigers (18-10, 14-2 SWAC) Saturday.
Alcorn had just two players hit in the positive. The second set the Lady Braves totaled eight kills, including three from Jackson, and just four errors. TSU's attackers, however, combined for 12 kills on a .526 attacking percentage.
Jackson led Alcorn offensively for the second straight match after accumulating six kills. Junior Brittney Dumas and freshman Barbara Garrett added four each.
Senior setter Sydney Mellom finished with 11 assists. Fellow senior Leticia Gonzales contributed six assists. Kiam-Assato recorded a team-high seven digs.
Alcorn totaled 11 service errors and just three aces, all from Kiam-Assato, in defeat.
The Lady Braves head east for their final road swing of the season at Alabama A&M University and Alabama State University Monday and Tuesday, respectively. Both matches are set to start at 7 p.m.
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