Alcorn Volleyball erased a 2-1 deficit Monday evening to capture a thrilling 3-2 Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) victory on the road against Arkansas-Pine Bluff inside the H.O. Clemmons Arena. The Braves won the match on set scores of 21-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-19, 15-12.
Trailing 2-1 after three sets, Alcorn (3-20, 2-8 SWAC) ran out to a quick 7-2 lead in the fourth behind kills from Alaina Armstrong and Mikenzie Young-Mullins, as well as a service ace from Armstrong.
UAPB (6-16, 4-4 SWAC) would battle back to cut into the Braves lead at 14-9, but Alcorn was resilient in its efforts as an Alissa Williams service ace went ahead of kills from Demya Tate and Makayla Wardlaw, respectively, to push the Braves lead out to an 18-10 edge. Jéda Curry would supply the final kill off the set of Ramona Pulu to knot the match at two sets apiece on a 25-19 decision for Alcorn.
The fifth set would be tense with back-to-back attack errors charged to Alcorn allowing UAPB to tie the set at 4-4.
Consecutive kills from Young-Mullins would see the Braves jump back out to a 6-4 lead before a Laila Fortson kill preceded an Alcorn attack error to once again see the set tied, this time at 6-all.
With the decisive set tied at 10, two Armstrong service aces helped push the Braves back out to a 13-10 lead.
While the Golden Lions would chip away to make it 13-12, it would be Wardlaw and Armstrong teaming up for the final two kills to give the Braves their third win of the season.
The hosts took the opening set, 25-21, hitting a match-high .409 as a team in the opening set. Meanwhile, the Braves were limited to just minus-.143 attacking in the opener.
However, Alcorn bounced back in the second set for the 25-23 win.
A Young-Mullins service error was followed by a host of UAPB attack errors, allowing the Braves the early 7-2 lead – added consecutive kills from Young-Mullins. The Golden Lions would battle back to tie the set at 12, before Tate and Armstrong went back-to-back for kills – as well as a UAPB hitting error, to give the Braves a 15-12 edge.
The Golden Lions would go on a 5-0 run off the serve of Elyssa Kennedy to take a 17-15 lead, while Alcorn followed with a Wardlaw kill and a UAPB attack error to knot the set once again at 17-all.
With the Braves up 22-21, Wardlaw and Curry each registered kills, while Wardlaw finished it off with a kill off the Williams set to give Alcorn the 25-23 win in the second frame.
UAPB took the third set while Alcorn had just 10 kills on seven errors and 36 swings in the set.
Wardlaw led all players for the Braves with 13 kills and 10 digs, collecting her double-double in the match. She was followed by Young-Mullins with 11 kills and 14 digs for another double-double performance for the Purple and Gold. Pulu had 20 assists, while Williams chipped in with 18 assists of her own. Williams completed her double-double outing with 10 digs on defense.
UAPB was led by Fortson with 12 kills, while teammate Zykia Jones added 10 digs for the Golden Lions.
The Braves will now have just under a week off before traveling to the second SWAC Cluster event of the season, this time in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Southern University will serve as the host for the Cluster. The Braves will begin the event Sunday, Oct. 30, against Alabama A&M at 1 p.m.
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