Volleyball Splits Against Alabama State, Jackson State On Day 1 Of SWAC Round-up

PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas – Texas Southern split its first two conference games at the SWAC Round-up on Friday afternoon on the campus of Prairie View A&M.

TSU 3, ALABAMA STATE 2

Texas Southern rallied back from a 2-0 deficit to take down Alabama State 3-2 on Friday morning in its SWAC opener.

Set was one a back-and-forth affair as TSU fought back from an 11-5 deficit to knot the contest at 12-all. Neither team could shake each other off until late in the set as Alabama State’s Tiara Cottingham scored two of the final five points to seal the win.

In set two, Alabama State led 18-13 but TSU would fight back and close to 20-19 before ASU pulled away for a 2-0 lead. With their backs against the wall, the Tigers rose to the occasion in set three and overcame a 9-6 deficit to take control and claim a 25-18 decision. The same would happen again for TSU in set four as the Tigers broke open a 17-17 decision to force a fifth and deciding set.

In set five, Alabama State would lead 9-6 but TSU fought back and knotted the set at 9-all after two ASU errors and a kill from Danielle Lilley. A kill from Indyah Rideaux moved the lead back to the TSU side at 10-9 and the Tigers never looked back as Rideaux and Lilley combined for the next few points to move ahead 12-9. ASU narrowed the gap to 13-12 but kills from Maria Salazar-Gutierrez and Alexis Austin sealed the win.

Lilley led TSU with 14 kills while Breyanna York finished with 40 assists. Valencia Grayson added 19 digs while Rideaux and Austin added 11 kills each.

JACKSON STATE 3, TSU 0

In game two, Jackson State recorded a 3-0 decision over TSU in the final match of the day.

TSU opened set one with a 7-4 lead but saw the lead change hands thanks to errors for a 10-9 deficit. TSU would knot the contest at 10-all but JSU began to create separation with a pair of three-point rallies for a 20-15 lead. After taking a timeout, TSU would respond and close the gap to 21-20 after a trio of Danielle Lilley kills. However, an attack error gave the next point back to JSU which gave them new life en route to closing out the set with four straight points.

Set two was all JSU as they gained control of the set with an early 6-0 run. Both teams went back-and-forth as TSU would only trail 12-9 but the bottom would fall out as JSU closed out the match by outscoring TSU 13-3 for the win.

Set three was nearly a mirror image of set two as JSU broke away early and took advantage of TSU errors to close out the match 25-13.

TSU is back in action tomorrow against Alcorn State at 12:30 p.m. and Mississippi Valley State at 7 p.m.