Hot-Hitting Lady Braves Topple Lane 3-1

LORMAN, Miss. – Hitting over .400 percent in two of the four sets, the Alcorn State University volleyball program used a big attacking night to top Lane College 3-1 Tuesday at the Davey L. Whitney Complex.
 
Alcorn (7-13) hit for a .252 mark overall in the match and held Lane to a .093 clip.
 
Freshman Sydney Joseph led the way with 17 kills and hit for a whopping .455 percentage. Senior Alondra Rivera Modesto was just as steady with 11 kills and a .381 percentage. Sophomore Mae Lewis neared double-figures with nine kills and five aces.
 
Junior Barbara Cabo turned in a big night with 28 assists, six digs and six aces. Sophomore Kaylyn Latin anchored the back line with 15 digs.
 
The Lady Braves entered the match ranked ninth in the country with 1.77 aces per set, and will improve upon their mark with 15 aces in the contest.
 
The Lady Dragons (4-19) were paced by Aza Rae Underwood's 13 kills and 13 digs.
 
"I'm happy that we won, but there are some things we have to clean up before conference this weekend. We rebounded well in the fourth after dropping the third, but that third set is something we'll need to watch and learn from," said Alcorn head coach Chelsey Lucas. "I want to give a special thanks to Ms. Tammy Cox for speaking tonight. Her breast cancer survivor story is an inspiration to our students."
 
A very tight first set saw the teams tied 14-14 midway through. The Braves grabbed a slight 17-15 lead after kill by Lewis, but Lane quickly responded with a 4-0 run to go up 19-17. Alcorn came back to tie it 21-21 on a kill by Joseph, and went ahead 23-22 on another spike by Joseph. At 24-23 Alcorn, the Lady Braves won it on an attack error by Lane.
 
The second set also started even at 8-8 until Alcorn went on a big 8-1 run on the serve of Cabo to go up 16-9. The spurt included a pair of kills by junior Daharri Thompkins. Lane never could really get back in it, and a pair of kills by Joseph ended the frame.
 
The Lady Braves were seemingly in control in the third leading 15-9 when the Lady Dragons made a big push to come within one at 17-16. Lane was able to tie it 18-18 on a kill by Underwood, and took the lead 20-19 on an Alcorn error. The Lady Braves handed over the final two points of the set on a ball handling error and attack error.
 
Alcorn bounced back right away in the fourth and leaped to an 8-1 lead which included three kills by Rivera Modesto. The lopsided fourth frame saw Cabo serve 12 times and picked up four aces. The match ended on an ace by sophomore Fiapaipai Iosia.
 
The day was originally supposed to be a tri-match, but Southern-New Orleans had to cancel after a last-minute conflict.
 
It was the first-ever meeting between Alcorn and Lane.
 
The Lady Braves will now turn their attention back to conference play as they head to Huntsville, Alabama this weekend for the second of two SWAC Round-Ups. Alcorn went 3-2 at the first Round-Up on Sept. 21-23 at Southern. The Lady Braves will begin action Friday at 10 a.m. against Texas Southern.
 
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