LORMAN, Miss. – The Alcorn State University volleyball program suffered a 3-0 loss in its first Southwestern Athletic Conference contest of the season against Alabama State Friday inside the Davey L. Whitney Complex.
"We knew that Briana Dorsey and Krysta Medearis were going to swing a lot. We knew that we had to put a block in front of them and we didn't do our job," said Alcorn head volleyball coach Chelsey Lucas-Nicholas. "We had girls who knew exactly what they were supposed to do and they just didn't do it. We have another opportunity to play them, but in order to compete with a team that has much taller girls we have to actually execute our gameplan."
DNADA SMITH fronted the Lady Braves (1-8, 0-1 SWAC) attack with six kills. Senior setters
LETICIA GONZALES (11) and
SYDNEY MELLOM (10) totaled double-digit assists. Mellom also added four kills on an efficient .308 attacking percentage.
Dorsey, the Lady Hornets (4-7, 1-0 SWAC) top attacker, fired nine kills, mostly on quick sets in the middle. Setter Justus Tuiolosega notched a double-double on 24 assists and 11 digs. ASU swung at a .319 (35-12-72) clip, its highest attacking percentage of the season.
A four-point ASU spurt took the score to 9-4 in the first set. After Alcorn scored on a Lady Hornets attacking error, ASU responded with a 4-0 run to increase the deficit to 13-5. Down 14-8 later in the set, the Lady Braves gave up seven straight points on five errors. Alcorn never could recover and eventually dropped the first set 25-13.
The Lady Braves started the second set in a four-point hole and only fought back to within three points for the remainder of the set. Alcorn converted seven kills but also committed six attacking errors for a .029 attacking percentage in the set which ASU won 25-16.
The third set was tied at five after a kill from junior outside hitter
LURLETHIA JONES, but the Lady Braves were again unable to weather the Lady Hornets attack as ASU ended the match on a 20-9 run. The Lady Braves accumulated nine kills in the final stanza and increased their kills per set as the game went on.
Alcorn has a quick turnaround and faces Jacksonville State Tuesday inside the Whitney Complex. The match is set for a 5:30 p.m. first serve. The Lady Braves fell 3-0 to the Gamecocks earlier this season.
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