Volleyball Defeats Mississippi Valley To Finish SWAC Round-Up

JACKSON, Miss. – Texas Southern closed out the SWAC East Round-up with a win over Mississippi Valley State on Sunday morning. The Tigers finished the five-game event with a 2-3 mark.

TSU had no trouble with the Delta Devils in set one as they stormed out to a 25-11 win. However, set two saw MVSU wake up and go toe-to-toe with the Tigers as there were 12 lead changes throughout the set. Tied at 24-all, TSU moved ahead 25-24 after a kill by Jada Hall but MVSU answered and was on the verge of winning the set after moving ahead 26-25 . A MVSU attack error tied the set again and TSU took advantage as Nia Stone added a kill to move ahead followed by a block from Radka Brichackova to close out the set 28-26.

TSU broke away from MVSU in set three as they went on a 6-2 run for a 13-8 lead but MVSU kept close as  they drew to within 17-14 after a kill. TSU would take advantage of three MVSU errors along with a block from Hall and Stone for a 4-0 run and a 21-14 lead. MVSU couldn’t recover as TSU closed out the set with another 4-0 run for the win.

Breyanna York led TSU with 27 assists, nine kills and eight digs while Alexis Austin added nine kills and six digs. Hall and Danielle Lilley added eight kills with two blocks from Hall.

On Saturday, TSU opened with a tough 3-2 loss to Jackson State as both teams went back-and-forth. JSU closed out set one with a 6-0 run to win 25-12 but TSU regrouped and held off JSU 25-22 to even the match. Set three saw TSU battle back from a eight-point deficit to 22-19 late but JSU bounced back to move ahead 2-1. TSU answered with a decisive 25-17 victory to force a fifth and deciding set. In the final set, both teams were tied at 10-all until a 3-0 run by JSU upped the lead to 13-10 but TSU fought back to cut the deficit to 14-13 until a late kill by JSU decided the match.

In the nightcap on Saturday, Alabama State claimed  a 3-0 win as they won the first two sets by identical 25-21 margins before closing out the match with a 25-12 win.

TSU is back in action with three consecutive home matches beginning Sunday, Nov. 3 against Southern at 4 p.m. followed by Grambling State on Monday, Nov. 4 and Prairie View A&M on Thursday, Nov. 7 at 6:30 p.m.