PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas – Mississippi Valley State volleyball improved during the second day of the SWAC Round Up at Prairie View A&M. But the result was still two defeats - a sweep at the hands of Arkansas Pine Bluff 3-0 (19-25, 12-25, 16-25) and a four set loss to Texas Southern (15-25, 18-25, 25-19, 21-25).
Valley (3-17, 0-4 SWAC) was led by 19 kills from Tyler Caliste (New Orleans, La.), including 14 against the Golden Lions. Zion Hardy (Winterville, N.C.) added 11 kills throughout the day and Tylia Dixon (Chino, Calif.) added eight. Chardea Berthelot (Lapalce, La.) tallied five aces against Texas Southern for a total of six. Dixon ended the day with 25 digs and Jessica Bell (Cedar Hill, Tex.) finished with 19.
The Devilettes stormed out to a 7-3 lead in the morning match, but fell behind on a 7-0 Pine Bluff run. Valley would make runs of their own for brief leads, but the Golden Lions pulled away, eventually winning by five. Outside of the first few points in the next two sets, the Devilettes found themselves behind the rest of the way.
It looked like the Texas Southern match would be more of the same. The Tigers roared through the first set and built up a 21-8 advantage in set two. But Berthelot got a hold of the serve and built up the momentum, thanks to three service aces. Hardy added two kills as Valley earned a 9-0 run before dropping the set.
Valley steadily built up a lead in the third set, hitting .207 along the way. Texas Southern could only tie before the Devilettes would sideout. Keyed by several Tiger attack errors and two kills by Dixon, we were onto a fourth set.
The fourth set was close as both teams battled to a 21-21 tie. With the Tigers leading by one, a controversial call against Valley's Jaziah Anderson (Wiregrass Ranch, Fla.) gave another point to Texas Southern, and subsequent protests resulted in a red card. The Tigers then needed just one more kill to capture the match.
Mississippi Valley ends their stay at Prairie View with a 12:30 p.m. contest with Southern Sunday (Sept. 29).
