Youthful Lady Braves Conclude 2018 Season in First Round of SWAC Championships

ITTA BENA, Miss. – A hot-hitting Alabama A&M squad posted a 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-9) result over the Alcorn State University volleyball program in the first round of the 2018 SWAC Championships at the Harrison Complex.
 
The top-seeded Bulldogs (22-14) hit for a big .396 percentage, including two frames of .444. The eighth-seeded Lady Braves (10-20) were held to a .065 hitting mark.
 
"We're disappointed with how today's match went, but we're not disappointed with the season. This was just the beginning of Alcorn volleyball and we improved so much in a short period of time. The goal remains the same, and that's to win a championship," said Alcorn head coach Chelsey Lucas. "I can't wait until next season."
 
Freshman Sydney Joseph registered a team-high seven kills, while senior Alondra Rivera Modesto notched six. Junior Barbara Cabo distributed 20 assists and five digs, while sophomore Kaylyn Latin dug up nine attacks.
 
The Lady Braves entered the match ranked second in the nation in service aces with 1.98 per set. Alcorn was on pair with six in the match (2.0 per set). Cabo fired two aces, while freshman Jurnee Calhoun, sophomore Fiapaipai Iosia, junior Melinda Perriloux and Modesto each recorded one.
 
AAMU was guided by Maya Evans who totaled 14 attacks on 18 swings for a .778 hitting percentage.
 
The Bulldogs came out on fire in the first set and quickly took a 5-0 lead. An ace by Perriloux made it 7-4, but AAMU pushed it back up to 14-9 on a kill by Ashley Jackson. The Lady Braves called timeout trailing 20-13, but just couldn't put together the run that they needed to get back in the frame. The set ended on an Alcorn attack error.
 
The second set was tied 3-3 early when AAMU used a 5-0 spurt to jump ahead 8-3. The Bulldogs extended it to 15-7 on a kill by Terra Brooks. The Lady Braves were still down 20-12 when they used a 5-1 run to get back in it after kills by Modesto and sophomore Mae Lewis. Though, AAMU was able to hold off a late charge and win it 25-20.
 
The final frame was even 4-4 when AAMU won 21-5 the rest of the way. The turn came when they reeled off seven straight points to turn a 9-6 edge into a 16-6 advantage.
 
It marked the season finale for Alcorn. The team won six conference matches this year which were the most since 2003.
 
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