Lady Braves Win Second Straight with 3-0 Sweep over Tougaloo

TOUGALOO, Miss. – Big outings all-around guided the Alcorn State University volleyball program to a straight-set 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-20) victory over Tougaloo on the road Monday evening at the Dawg Pound.
 
The Lady Braves (2-5) came out on fire and won the first eight points of the match to get it started. They ended up hitting for a season-high .288 percentage.
 
"I am proud of this group. We got off to a fast start and never looked back tonight. It was an awesome performance and we played with a lot of fire and energy," said Alcorn head coach Chelsey Lucas. "We need to keep working hard and improving. We have a big week of practice upcoming before heading to San Antonio this weekend."

Freshman Sydney Joseph hit for a .321 mark with a career-high 12 kills, while senior Alondra Rivera Modesto registered a .292 percentage with 11 kills. Sophomore Daharri Thompkins aided the attack with seven kills and a .385 percentage.
 
Alcorn passed the ball well as sophomore Fiapaipai Iosia dug up 17 attacks and freshman Jurnee Calhoun dished out 36 assists. Iosia also notched a match-high four service aces.
 
Tougaloo (6-7) was paced by Carolyne Edwards who tallied 10 kills and five digs.
 
The Lady Braves came out of the gates red-hot with four kills from Joseph and led 8-0 on Iosia's serve. They extended their edge to 16-4 after a kill by sophomore Kaylyn Latin. The Bulldogs tried to crawl back in at 22-16, but kills by Thompkins and sophomore Mae Lewis finished off the set.
 
The second-set was neck-and-neck for most of the way. Neither team led by more than two points to get to a 19-19 tie. After Tougaloo went up 20-19, Alcorn answered with four consecutive points including three kills by Rivera Modesto to grab a 23-20 advantage. The Lady Braves won the set on a kill by Latin.
 
The Lady Braves led for most of the third set, and an ace by freshman Mariah Wilmoth put them up 17-14. Alcorn was still ahead 19-15 after a spike by Thompkins. For the second straight match, the Lady Braves won on a kill by Rivera Modesto.
 
It marked the second consecutive win for Alcorn which was coming off a 3-2 win over William Carey on Thursday.
 
The Lady Braves improved to 7-2 all-time against Tougaloo.
 
Alcorn will look to keep rolling this weekend when it heads to Incarnate Word for the IUW Cardinals Classic. The Lady Braves will kick it off Friday at 7 p.m. against Eastern Washington.
 
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