LORMAN, Miss. – The Alcorn State University volleyball team delivered its most hard fought performance of the season on Sunday, extending its Southwestern Athletic Conference opener to five sets before falling 3-2 to Texas Southern inside the Davey L. Whitney Complex.
The Lady Braves (1-13, 0-1 SWAC) showed grit and improvement, marking the first time this season they have played a full five-set match. After dropping the first two frames (17-25, 18-25), Alcorn stormed back to win the third set 25-14 and battled to a 25-23 win in the fourth, claiming back-to-back sets for the first time this fall.
Sophomore outside hitter Rylan Jones paced the attack with a team-high 12 kills, while Michaela Branner added nine kills, two aces, and three block assists for 12.5 points. Jessika Martinez chipped in nine kills of her own, and Cristin Webb tallied six kills with four block assists.
Setter Juliana Henao guided the offense with 36 assists while also contributing four service aces and six block assists. Defensively, Tomoni Giddings anchored the back row with a match-high 24 digs, while Courtney Carter added 10.
As a team, Alcorn totaled 55 kills, 62 digs, and eight service aces in a performance that showed toughness and growth in front of their home crowd of 134 fans.
The Lady Braves will look to build on their first five-set match of the season as SWAC play continues tomorrow against Prairie View A&M University.
FOLLOW THE BRAVES
For complete coverage of Alcorn State Athletics news, please follow the Braves on Twitter (@BravesSports), Instagram (@AlcornSports) and YouTube (Alcorn State Sports) or visit the official home of the Alcorn State Athletics at (alcornsports.com).
