BATON ROUGE, La. – The first five conference games for the Alcorn State University volleyball program will be played this weekend when the team heads to Southern University at Clifford Seymour Gym for the first of two SWAC Round-Ups.
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The Lady Braves (2-7) will get it started Friday at 10 a.m. against Arkansas-Pine Bluff (2-9). Later that evening at 7 p.m. they will face Prairie View A&M (0-10).
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Alcorn will take on Texas Southern (1-11) and Grambling State (1-12) on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively. The Lady Braves will close out the weekend Sunday at Southern (1-8) at 12:30 p.m.
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The Lady Braves have wins this season over William Carey 3-2 and Tougaloo 3-0. They're coming off a tough weekend at the UIW Cardinals Classic where they fell to Eastern Washington and Incarnate Word.
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"We played a challenging non-conference schedule to prepare us for a weekend like this. The biggest thing for us is staying consistent. We've shown a lot of bright spots so far this season, but we have to be able to maintain it for the entirety of a match," said Alcorn head coach
Chelsey Lucas. "Playing five matches in a weekend is not easy, but it's the same for every team. We have to take it one point at a time and stay focused."
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Sophomore
Fiapaipai Iosia leads the SWAC and ranks third in the nation in service aces per set with 0.73. She's also Alcorn's leader in digs with 89 (2.97 dpg).
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"This weekend is just about working together, being one on the court and having each other's backs," Iosia said.
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Freshman
Sydney Joseph has paced the offense with 68 kills on the year. Sophomore
Daharri Thompkins is hitting at a .204 percentage which ranks fourth in the conference. She's also tallied 40 kills and leads the team with 15 blocks on the year.
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"I think we're very ready. We just have to be prepared to go and show up, do our jobs and compete as a team," Thompkins said. "Our team has shown a lot of improvement. We're definitely excited to go and show the SWAC what we're made of and what we've accomplished since last year."
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Also ranking top-five in the league, freshman setter
Jurnee Calhoun averages 5.81 assists per set. She moved into the starting role at the start of September.
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All of the teams Alcorn is playing this weekend are from the SWAC West Division. The Lady Braves are seeking their first win over a team from the west since 2015. Historically, Alcorn has had the most success against UAPB with a 25-12 all-time record.
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