Tiger Volleyball Sweeps Day 2 Of SWAC Play

PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas – Texas Southern finished the day with an undefeated record as they defeated both Alcorn State and Mississippi Valley State during the second day of the SWAC Round-up inside the PVAMU Recreation Center.

TSU 3, ALCORN STATE 1
Texas Southern rallied from a 1-0 deficit with three straight wins to claim a 3-1 decision over Alcorn State in the opener.

Alcorn State broke the first set open in the latter stages with a 24-18 lead but TSU rallied back and closed to within 24-23 before two attack errors down the stretch gave Alcorn State the win 25-23.

Set two started out evenly until a 6-0 surge by TSU broke the game open at 16-10. The Tigers never looked back after the surge to even the match at 1-all. The third set was similar to set two as TSU once again led 17-10 and closed out the match behind a pair of strong performances from Danielle Lilley and Alexis Austin.

Set four went down to the wire as Alcorn State would claim a 21-18 lead but TSU rallied back and reclaimed a 22-21 margin after stellar play from Lilley, Breyanna York, Atira Jells and Kaitlyn Scroggins. Alcorn State wouldn’t go away as they knotted the match as 23-all but an ASU attack error and a block by  Indyah Rideaux and Maria Salazar-Gutierrez sealed the match for the Tigers.

Jells and Lilley led the way with 11 kills apiece while York finished with 36 assists. Valencia Grayson added 15 digs while Rideaux and Salazar-Gutierrez combined for seven assisted blocks.

TSU 3, MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE 0
The Tigers took control early but had to fight off a late charge by Mississippi Valley State to claim a 3-1 decision.

TSU moved out to a 6-0 lead in set one as the closest Mississippi Valley State would draw was four points at 12-8. Two kills and a service ace upped the margin to 15-8 which eventually grew to a 20-12 lead after a 3-0 surge which saw Atira Jells and Maria Salazar-Gutierrez lead the way with kills. Jada Hall and Jells would add the final touches as TSU closed out set one 25-15.

Set two started off tied at 4-4 before TSU went into overdrive and outscored Mississippi Valley State 15-3 to move ahead 19-7. The lead grew to 23-9 for TSU but everything come to a halt at that point as MVSU exploded for eight consecutive points to narrow the gap to 23-18. A MVSU service error would end the run followed by an attack error to end the set at 25-18.

The third set saw both teams go back-and-forth as it was tied at 15-all. MVSU moved ahead after a kill and upped its lead to 18-15 thanks to a pair of TSU errors. Errors would continue to haunt TSU from that point as three additional errors allowed MVSU to close the set out 24-19.

Mississippi Valley State took the momentum into set four and led 22-19 down the stretch. With a deciding set on the horizon, Atira Jells and Alexis Austin recorded back-to-back kills followed by a MVSU attack error which gave birth to a 6-0 run and the match.

Jells led TSU with 11 kills, five digs and three assisted blocks while York finished with 20 assists. Alyssa Chuidian also added 14 assists and 13 digs in addition to a 15 and 12 digs from Valencia Grayson and Alexis Austin, respectively.

The round-up concludes with TSU battling Alabama A&M at 10 a.m. Sunday.