LORMAN, Miss. – The Alcorn State University volleyball program has a tough slate of matches this upcoming weekend in Birmingham, Alabama as it will face the trio of UAB (host), East Tennessee State and Alabama over the next two days.
The purple and gold have excelled at limiting its opposition's quality attack attempts as it currently rates as the second-best team in the SWAC with an opponent's hitting percentage of only .252.
Junior
Jasmine Chambers has been a nightmare for teams to prepare for behind the service line, topping the conference in both aces per set (0.53) and total aces (9) through five matches.
Junior
Fiapaipai Iosia joins Chambers atop the SWAC leaderboards as she is the conference leader in digs per set (4.19) while extending her double-digit dig streak to five straight.
The Long Beach, California native is 84 digs away from being the program's all-time career digs leader, a title currently held by Donna Kelly with 1,031 over the 2009 through 2012 seasons.
Sophomore
Simone Barren currently paces the Lady Braves with 32 kills and 13 blocks.
"We're excited to play some competitive teams and continue to grow as we prepare for conference play," said head coach
Melissa Robinson. Â "Our schedule has been pretty tough so far but we're learning more every opportunity how much better we're getting."
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Scouting the UAB Blazers (Friday, September 13 at 12 p.m.)
The hosting Blazers come into its tournament with a .500 record with its three wins coming over fellow Alabama-based schools; Alabama State, Jacksonville State and North Alabama.
The green and gold have been deadly on serves so far with a top-50 national ranking in aces per set (1.91) and total aces (42) to go along with top-five marks in assists per set (12.64), kills per set (13.45) and hitting percentage (.265) among its conference competitors.
Grace Koper is UAB's top server, placing top-five in Conference USA in terms of aces per set (0.45) and aces (10) while Anna D'Cruz slips onto the backend of the conference leaderboards as she claims tenth in blocks per set at 0.95.
The Lady Braves and Blazers have met twice before with the University of Alabama at Birmingham taking both prior meetings. The last time these schools met was a UAB sweep in 2009.
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Scouting the East Tennessee State Buccaneers (Friday, September 13 at 3 p.m.)
The Buccaneers have won five-of-six to open the regular season with its lone loss coming in its last time out against Coastal Carolina.
ETSU has been spectacular on the attack, ranking seventh in the NCAA with an eye-popping .357 hitting percentage. The Bucs have also been dominant in terms of its Southern Conference peers, placing first or second in aces per set (1.68), assists per set (12.55), blocks per set (2.41), kills per set (13.59), total kills (299) and total blocks (53.0).
Reigning Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Week Kaela Massey has been a star, leading the conference in hitting percentage (.496) and blocks (25), second in blocks per set (1.32) and third in points per set (4.32).
This will be the first ever meeting between the Lady Braves and Buccaneers in women's volleyball.
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Scouting the Alabama Crimson Tide (Saturday, September 14 at 10 a.m.)
Alabama comes into the match with a 5-1 record with its only blemish coming to VCU in five sets.
The Crimson Tide have been above-average in assists (11.48 per set), blocks (2.30 per set) and hitting percentage (.281) as they are within the top-five SEC schools in each category.
Aliyah Wells is the driving force behind UA's defensive prowess, placing second in blocks (26) and fifth in blocks per set (1.13) in the conference while inside the top-10 for hitting percentage at .385.
Kaylee Thomas is the top defensive specialist for the Tide with 90 digs through six matches while the primary setter duties have fallen to Mylana Byrd at 8.25 assists per set.
This will be the first ever meeting between the Lady Braves and Crimson Tide in women's volleyball.
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