LORMAN, Miss. – The Alcorn State University volleyball program fell to Alabama State and Alabama A&M in straight sets over the weekend.
The Lady Braves (5-22, 2-14 SWAC) were fronted by a trio of juniors in Daharri Thompkins (11 kills), Jasmine Chambers (5.5 assists per set) and Fiapaipai Iosia (16 digs) over the two matches.
Alabama State | L, 0-3 (21-25, 18-25, 18-25)
Alcorn came out of the blocks red-hot to start the first set, beginning the match on a 5-1 run. Alabama State proceeded to make a run of its own, storming back to take the lead 8-7. After the Lady Braves got the next point to even the score at eight, ASU went on a 11-4 surge to open up a 19-11 cushion. The purple and gold made things interesting late as it scored six of seven points, but the Lady Hornets prevailed (21-25).
The second set went Alabama State's way through 10 points as it led 7-3. The Lady Braves would close the gap to one at 12-11 but the black and gold rattled off five unanswered including seven of nine to widen the margin to six (19-13). ASU and Alcorn basically traded points the rest of the set with the Lady Hornets taking a two-set upper-hand (18-25).
Alabama State controlled the third set from the opening serve, taking leads of 10-4 and 17-9 in the process. ASU saw its lead shrink to 22-17 courtesy of a 4-0 Lady Braves rally but that was as close as Alcorn would get as the Lady Hornets earned a straight-set win (18-25).
Redshirt senior Singryd Valadares was the Lady Braves best attacker with ten kills, her fourth double-digit kill performance of the season. Chambers averaged 7.3 assists per set (22 total) and  Iosia was the team's top defender with eight digs.
Sophomore Simone Barren and Daharri Thompkins both had hitting percentages of over .400 as Barren hit .429 with four kills in seven attempts while Thompkins hit an even .400 with six kills in ten attacks.
Alabama A&M | L, 0-3 (6-25, 13-25, 13-25)
AAMU scored 16 of the match's first 19 points while ending the first set on an 8-0 run as the Lady Bulldogs won the first set (6-25).
Chambers led off the second set with a service ace for the Lady Braves before Alabama A&M went on a 15-3 barrage to take a 15-4 advantage. Alcorn trimmed the lead to eight (19-11) but the squad from Huntsville came away victorious (13-25).
Alcorn began the third set with a kill by Thompkins, however, AAMU then proceeded to rattle off six unanswered (6-1). With the Lady Bulldogs ahead 9-5, the girls in maroon effectively sealed the deal after an 8-1 explosion that made it 17-6 and went on to sweep the Lady Braves (13-25).
The Lady Braves' leaders were Thompkins with five kills, Chambers averaging 3.7 assists per set and Iosia had eight digs. Barren also contributed a team-high three blocks on the night.
The purple and gold will look to get back into the win column Thursday evening at 6:30 p.m. when it heads north to face Jackson State.
#FearTheBrave
