Lorman, Miss. — Alcorn State hosted Grambling State on Friday night for their SWAC volleyball season opener. The Lady Braves, who are 0-11, kept the matches competitive but ultimately fell in three sets (15-25, 25-27, 23-25).
Junior Alexis Burton led Alcorn with a season-high 10 kills and a .238 hitting percentage. In the first set, Grambling built an early 5-1 lead before Alcorn rallied behind kills by Rylan Jones, Tomoni Giddings, Courtney Carter, and Cristin Webb. The Lady Braves trimmed the gap to 17-14 but couldn’t complete the comeback as Grambling finished the set.
The second set was tightly contested. Alcorn opened with a 3-2 lead and later led 18-17 and 22-17. Grambling rallied to tie the set at 22-22, and after a series of close points, won 27-25. Burton’s kill kept Alcorn in contention, but the Tigers ultimately edged out the Lady Braves.
In the third set, Alcorn started strong with a 4-2 lead and extended it to 11-8 and 16-13. Grambling responded with a run to tie at 17-17 and later took a 23-21 lead. Despite a late rally by Alcorn, including a kill from Giddings, Grambling secured the 25-23 victory to close out the match.
Alcorn finished with 34 team kills, 29 assists, and two blocks. The Lady Braves will return to action Sunday, hosting Arkansas-Pine Bluff at noon in SWAC play.
