Women's Volleyball | 11/3/2016 4:50:00 PM

Lady Braves Set to Face Jackson State, Mississippi Valley State

JACKSON, Miss. - The Alcorn State University volleyball program will travel to Jackson State for a 6:30 p.m. match Friday inside T.B. Ellis Gymnasium.

The Lady Braves (2-18, 1-10 SWAC) then duel Mississippi Valley State Monday at 6 p.m. inside the R.W. Harrison Complex. 

Alcorn is hoping to shake a six-game losing skid that began on Oct. 8 against the Lady Tigers (5-20, 5-8 SWAC). 

The match's leading attackers for each team, Lady Braves junior Lurlethia Jones and JSU freshman Desiree Mack, have not played in a SWAC match since. Mack fired a match-high 10 kills while Jones spearheaded Alcorn with eight. 

Junior Brittney Dumas has stepped up in Jones' absence, fronting the Lady Braves attack in the last two matches. Freshman Sarah Pierre has also risen to the occasion, recording a career-high eight kills on an efficient .300 attacking percentage in Alcorn's four-set loss to Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Junior middle blocker Heather Jackson additionally chipped in seven kills against Grambling and UAPB. 

The Lady Braves set a 2016 SWAC high with 16 service aces against the Lady Lions. Seniors Leticia Gonzales, Carol Kiam-Assato and Sydney Mellom along with Dumas notched three each while junior Ariel Scott and freshman Barbara Garrett added two apiece. 

JSU has dropped four straight without Mack, turning to Tamisha Barry (2.16 points per set) and Dayjah Stewart (2.14) to fill the void. The Lady Tigers fell to Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Prairie View A&M and Texas Southern. 

The Devilettes (2-22, 0-13 SWAC) are still playing for their first conference victory. MVSU was downed in straight sets by Alcorn on Oct. 7 behind Dumas' nine kills, but the play of Lady Devilettes senior Cynthia Richardson did not go unnoticed. The 6-3 middle hitter slammed a match-high 10 kills on an outstanding .714 clip (10-0-14). 

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