ITTA BENA, Miss. – Conference play begins for Mississippi Valley State volleyball this upcoming weekend. The team will travel to Prairie View A&M for a five match extravaganza with opponents from the SWAC's Western Division. 

Valley will play Prairie View A&M and Grambling State Friday (Sept. 27), Arkansas Pine Bluff and Texas Southern Saturday (Sept. 28), and wrap up with Southern Sunday (Sept. 29). 

    SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS: It has been a rough start for all competitors in SWAC volleyball. The best record overall belongs to Alabama A&M, who is just 3-10 on the year. Only Grambling State and Texas Southern have earned     wins out of the West, with the Louisiana Tigers at 2-8 and the Texas Tigers at 1-9. Prairie View's Victoria Pearson is a force on offense, ranking fifth in the conference in kills (2.53 per set) and seventh in hitting percentage (.250). Chasity     Nicks of Grambling State ranks seventh in kills (2.40) and Alexis Austin ranks eighth (2.32). 

    LAST TIME OUT FOR THE DEVILETTES: Mississippi Valley was swept in home matches by Southeastern Louisiana and Henderson State, before rallying to defeat Tougaloo this past Monday (Sept. 23).Valley totaled 36 kills while     holding the Bulldogs to a negative hitting percentage. Tyler Caliste and Chardea Berthelot made up for nearly half that total with eight kills each.  

    LAST TIME AT A SWAC ROUND UP: The Devilettes went 1-4 in the second Round Up of 2018 in Huntsville, Alabama. A five set victory was achieved over Prairie View A&M behind 16 kills from Tyler Caliste and 14 more from Taylor     Selfridge. The other matches were close, including a five set loss to Texas Southern and four set losses to Pine Bluff and Grambling.