LORMAN, Miss. –
Makayla Wardlaw posted 15 kills while Jéda Curry added eight as Alcorn Volleyball was edged at home Monday night, 3-1 by Prairie View A&M in a Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) match at the Davey L. Whitney Complex. Prairie View took the match on scores of 25-22, 25-22, 25-27, 25-14.
After dropping the opening two sets, Alcorn (2-19, 1-7 SWAC) ran out to a sizeable 12-5 lead just under midway through the third.
A host of unforced Prairie View (5-19, 3-5 SWAC) errors were combined with kills from Alcorn's
Mikenzie Young-Mullins – who moved from libero to outside hitter at the beginning of the third set, allowed the Braves to take the seven-point lead following consecutive kills from
Makayla Wardlaw.
The visitors answered back to get themselves within 13-11 after Leila Smalls and Taylor Roberts went for kills.
But once again, the Braves surged to a seemingly comfortable advantage at 22-15 behind the play of
Alaina Armstrong and Young-Mullins, as well as a service ace from
Alissa Williams. Still, once again, it would be the Panthers clawing back to knot the set at 23-all when Roberts put down a pair of kills, book-ending a pair of Braves attack errors.
The Panthers would serve for match-point at 25-24, before a service error was followed by an attack error and a Wardlaw service ace to end the set and give the hosts the 27-25 overtime win.
In the third set, Alcorn placed 14 kills on 41 swings, while the Panthers had 11 kills on 33 swings. It would be five service aces in the frame that were key for the Purple and Gold in the victory.
The fourth set would see the visitors swell to a 20-8 advantage quickly, as Leila Smalls and Kiersten Atkinson provided the kills in a crucial run for the Panthers. In all, Prairie View hit a match-high .667 in the final frame, collecting 13 kills on just 18 swings against a single error. Meanwhile, Alcorn was limited to just .103 hitting in the set as a team.
The first two sets saw the two teams battle closely, as Wardlaw and Curry each collected four kills in the opener to keep the Braves within touching distance. But in the end, Roberts' six kills and Kharys Grice's five were enough to put the Panthers over the top in the first, 25-22.
Despite hitting just .030 as a team in the second frame – as Prairie View had 10 errors on 33 swings, Alcorn produced four service errors and six set-errors in the frame, allowing the Panthers to grab the two-set advantage courtesy the 25-22 score line in the second.
Prairie View was sparked on the night by Roberts with her match-high 18 kills and 10 digs, completing her double-double effort on the evening. Grice performed well with 11 kills and two blocks. And it would be setter Jakarta Hope adding 25 assists and 23 digs for her double-double performance.
For Alcorn, Wardlaw picked up a double-double with 15 kills and 10 digs to lead the Purple and Gold, followed by Curry's eight-kill performance. Setters
Ramona Pulu and
Alissa Williams each tallied 18 assists, while both also accumulated eight digs on defense. Young-Mullins led the defensive charge overall with 12 digs, adding seven kills on the night in the offensive category.
The Purple and Gold return to the court Sunday, Oct. 23, when the Braves travel to SWAC opponent Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 1 p.m.
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