Volleyball Suffers 3-1 Setback at Texas Southern

HOUSTON – Mikenzie Young-Mullins and Makayla Wardlaw combined for 24 kills Sunday evening, as Alcorn Volleyball fell to Texas Southern, 3-1 in a Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) match played inside the Health & Physical Education Arena. Texas Southern recorded the match win on set scores of 25-20, 25-15, 15-25, 25-12.
 
Despite dropping the first two sets, Alcorn (5-23, 4-11 SWAC) stayed with it to make things interesting in the third.
 
Makayla Wardlaw registered five of her 10 kills on the night in the third frame, while outside hitter-turned-libero Mikenzie Young-Mullins supplied five more kills to help the Braves to a set victory.
 
The Braves ran out to an early 9-5 lead in the set, thanks in part to back-to-back service aces from freshman setter Alissa Williams. Texas Southern (8-18, 8-7 SWAC) got back into the set at 14-12 behind kills from Caitlyn Roland and a Dallas Balanay-Flores service ace.
 
However, the Purple and Gold ended the set on a 6-1 run, using an Alaina Armstrong kill combined with three Wardlaw kills. Freshman middle blocker Demya Tate joined classmate Ramona Pulu for assisted blocks, as the Braves would hit .387 in the set for the 25-15 win.
 
The host Tigers hit a match-high .423 percentage in the fourth set, using 13 kills on just 26 swings to close-out the match victory.
 
On the night, Texas Southern received 12 kills apiece from teammates Amber Johnson and Thalia Cordero-Moreno. Alaiyah Fields joined Britney Ong as the duo tallied 11 digs each to lead the Tigers in a defensive effort. Setters Balanay-Flores (21 assists) and Fields (18 assists) helped set up the offensive attack.
 
Alcorn was charged by Young-Mullins with a match-high 14 kills, adding 15 digs for her third double-double of the 2022 campaign. Wardlaw added 10 kills and eight digs. Meanwhile, setters Ramona Pulu and Williams linked up the offensive attack with 14 assists each, as Williams also recorded three service aces. Emma Price would tally 10 digs from her libero position.
 
Alcorn returns to the court Monday, Nov. 14, when the Braves conclude the regular season at Prairie View A&M at 6 p.m.
 
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