LORMAN, Miss. – The Alcorn State University volleyball program closes out the campaign Thursday at 6 p.m. versus the Tuskegee Tigerettes with Senior Night festivities taking place between the second and third sets.
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The Lady Braves (6-23, 3-15 SWAC) are second in the conference with an average of 1.44 aces per set and is fourth in the league at 143 service aces in total.
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Junior
Jasmine Chambers ranks among the SWAC's best setters, placing fourth for assists per set (5.86) and aces per set (0.28) to go along with three SWAC Setter of the Week Awards. The Fort Worth, Texas native comes into the season finale ninth of the program's single season assists list at 539 and is 15 assists shy of eighth place.
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Junior
Fiapaipai Iosia checks in at seventh among the SWAC leaders for digs per set as she's averaged 3.42. Iosia currently places eighth on the program's single season digs list with 291 and has the fourth-most service aces in Alcorn history at 134.
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Sophomore
Simone Barren cracks the conference's top-ten blockers as she has 0.64 blocks per set and leads the team with 63 overall.
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This will be the final appearance as a Lady Brave for
Barbara Grubisic Cabo,
Singryd Valadares,
Daharri Thompkins,
Melinda Perrilloux and
Wanya Morris.
Grubisic Cabo spent the last two seasons on The Reservation after transferring from Eastern Florida State. She was named to the Preseason All-SWAC Second Team before this season and had the tenth-most assists (524) and assists per set (5.57) in program history last year while ranking among the NCAA's top-50 in service aces per set (0.39). The native of Maribor, Slovenia comes into the match with 609 assists, 170 digs, 66 kills, 47 aces and 13 blocks as a Lady Brave.
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Valadares logged two seasons at Alcorn, joining the Lady Braves after transferring from Colby Community College. The Brazilian was named to the 2018 Preseason All-SWAC Second Team and currently has 365 kills, 94 digs, 85 blocks, 23 aces and 14 assists on her resume. In 2019, she places third on the club in kills per set (1.82) and blocks (35) while leading Alcorn in hitting percentage (.168).
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Thompkins played in 321 sets over 99 matches during her three-year career. She racked up 379 kills, 138 blocks, 68 digs and 19 aces. This season the middle blocker from Lakeland, Florida is second among Lady Braves with 48 blocks and third for blocks per set (0.48).
Perrilloux played three seasons in purple and gold, appearing in 222 sets over 81 matches. The defensive specialist from Laplace, Louisiana recorded 202 digs, 32 service aces, 21 assists, 17 kills and a block during her career.
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Morris spent all four years as a Lady Brave, playing 156 sets during 76 matches. The middle blocker from Birmingham, Alabama accumulated 90 kills, 59 digs, 21 blocks, nine assists and nine aces overall.
"This senior class is great for us this year. Each of them have contributed to the success of Alcorn State volleyball over the past years and we thank them for that," said head coach
Melissa Robinson. "Their successes on the court and off the court have been like no other and I'm excited for them to take the next journey post-collegiate volleyball."
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Scouting the Tuskegee Tigerettes (8-17, 7-13 SIAC)
Tuskegee plays in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference of the NCAA's Division II.
Head coach
Melissa Robinson coached the Tigerettes over two seasons, compiling a 32-32 record while going 25-16 in conference while at the helm.
The maroon and gold are fourth in the SIAC with 9.74 assists per set and fifth for aces per set at 1.68.
Crystal Hall is a dynamic offensive weapon for TU, ranking top-50 in Division II for attacks per set (11.20), kills per set (3.79), points per set (4.20) and total attacks (1,030) while placing just outside the top-50 for total kills (349).
Santana Lewis is among the SIAC's upper echelon of setters, placing top-five in assists per set (6.32) and total assists (550).
This will be the first ever meeting between the two programs.
All home matches will be streamed live from the
Alcorn State Sports YouTube channel.
#FearTheBrave
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