ITTA BENA, Miss. – After a straight-set loss to Jackson State University Friday, the Alcorn State University volleyball squad squandered a 2-0 lead and ultimately dropped a five-setter to Mississippi Valley State University Monday night inside the R.W. Harrison Complex.
The Lady Braves (2-20, 1-12 SWAC) fell in straight sets (25-23, 25-14, 25-22) to the Lady Tigers (6-21, 5-9 SWAC) despite seven kills from junior
Heather Jackson which tied a match high along with JSU's Dayjah Stewart and Madison Wolf.
Alcorn made a 3-0 run in the first set behind a
Brittney Dumas kill and back-to-back
Leticia Gonzales service aces to tie the opening frame at 12. The Lady Braves led by as many as four at 19-15 after a Jackson kill before the Lady Tigers proceeded to outscore Alcorn 10-4 the rest of the way including six of the last eight.
Despite swapping three-point surges to start the second set, it was again the Lady Tigers who prevailed at the end of the stanza. With the Lady Braves trailing 17-13, JSU scored five straight to push the advantage to nine.
Following a Tyler Moorer service error, Alcorn allowed three JSU kills to close out the second set.
The Lady Braves faltered in the deciding frame despite 11 kills, the highest set output during the match. Alcorn actually outperformed the Lady Tigers from an attacking standpoint, recording one less error with the same amount of kills.
The service was the difference as the Lady Braves committed three service errors to JSU's two. The Lady Tigers also held a 2-0 advantage in aces.
Despite the loss, Gonzales recorded a match-high five service aces which also marks the highest total in a match for a Lady Brave this season.
Alcorn had a 2-0 set edge on MVSU (3-23, 1-14 SWAC) before committing nine hitting errors and dropping each of the next two sets. The Lady Braves had just eight attacking errors between the first two frames.
The final set features a back-and-forth affair with seven ties. The Devilettes took advantage of two Alcorn attacking errors down 10-9 and got a kill from Marissa Chalmers to take a 12-10 lead which the Lady Braves could not overcome.
A
Barbara Garrett kill put Alcorn within one at 13-12 before MVSU closed the match on a Cynthia Richardson kill and another Lady Braves attack error.
Richardson totaled a match-high 15 kills while Garrett spearheaded Alcorn with 12. Senior libero Carol-Kiam Assato tallied over five digs per set, 27 in total. Senior setter
Sydney Mellom racked up 21 assists and 10 digs for her second consecutive double-double against the Devilettes.
Alcorn returns to the Davey L. Whitney Complex this weekend in its final two home matches of the season. The Lady Braves face Prairie View A&M Friday at 4:30 p.m. before dueling Texas Southern for Senior Day at 1 p.m. Saturday.
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