Grambling State outlasts Alcorn in five-set marathon

GRAMBLING — The Grambling State University volleyball team jumped out to a two-set lead and outlasted Alcorn State, 3-2, in a Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) match on Sunday evening at the Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center.

The Lady Tigers (4-8 overall, 1-1 SWAC) took the first two sets, 25-21, 25-20, but dropped the next two sets, 25-10, 25- 22, before pulling past the Lady Braves, 15-4, in the final set.

With the opening set tied at 16, Grambling State took control of a few errors by Alcorn State to grab a 1-0 lead.

The Lady Braves opened the second set with a 10-3 advantage after a kill by Mikenzie Young-Mullins. However, Grambling State chipped away at the deficit and tied the match at 11 after a kill by A’Lexus Everett.

The kill by Everett sparked GSU offensively as the Lady Tigers extended the margin to 22-18. Grambling State took the second second, 25-20 after a pair of errors by Alcorn State. The Lady Braves raced out to a 12-2 lead in third set and cruised to a 25-10 victory to close the gap to 2-1.

Grambling State started strong in the fourth set and took a 7-3 advantage after a kill by Everett. Alcorn State rallied and tied the match at 14 before picking up a 25-22 victory and forcing a fifth set.

The Lady Tigers opened the final set on a 5-1 run.

Alcorn State closed the margin to 6-3, but Grambling State ended the set on a 9-1 run to claim the five-set match.

Everett paced the GSU offense with 12 kills, while Sheila Borders, who reached 1,000 assists during Sunday’s match, registered 14 assists.

Kalee Cadwell added 12 assists and eight digs, and Jada Taylor led the defense with 20 digs.

GSU returned to the court on Monday as rival Southern came to town.