JACKSON, Miss. - The Jackson State volleyball team completed a 3-0 sweep of West Alabama on Tuesday evening to wrap up the non-conference portion of the Tigers schedule.
In the first set of the match the Lady Tigers of West Alabama looked to be in control as they took a quick 4-1 lead. The JSU Tigers were able to rally off a few straight points to bring it to a tight score of 7-6.
West Alabama continued to hold a slight edge through most of the set, remaining ahead 15-14 until a West Alabama service error allowed JSU to tie the match up at 15-15 before taking the lead 16-15 off of a Jylen Whitten service ace.
Over the next set of points, the lead changed a total of five times among both JSU and UWA.
West Alabama appeared poised to take set one up 23-20 yet a timeout from JSU allowed themselves to regroup, helping them to rally for five straight points to take control of set one 25-23.
Set two was very similar to the first set as both teams remained within one point of each other through the first couple of combined points with JSU holding a slight lead 5-4.
The JSU Tigers strung together seven straight points, starting with a 4-3 UWA lead, to take a commanding advantage in the second set by a score of 10-4.
The Blue and White continued to string together multiple runs, taking a 21-10 lead.
However, UWA showed that they too had some fight in them and the ability to put together multiple points in a row.
UWA went on a 9-1 run to cut the Tigers lead from 21-10 to 22-19.
JSU did not panic as UWA attempted to make a charge towards regaining the lead, as the Blue and White held on to a close two set victory of 25-21.
The third set was equally as intense as the second and first set as Jackson State jumped out to a 14-7 lead over the Lady Tigers of West Alabama.
Yet the visitors continued to show fight on the road inside of the Lee E. Williams Athletic and Assembly Center as they once again came roaring back from behind to tie the entire match set up at 23-23.
While the momentum continued to swing towards UWA in the latter part of the set as it had in set two, JSU was able to persevere through the final few points with the help of a kill from Camry Dabney.
The go ahead kill by Dabney allowed for a little breathing room as the Tigers held a slight 24-23 lead.
Seconds later, an attacking error on UWA ultimately gave Jackson State the close 25-23 set win and 3-0 victory overall.
The Tigers win allowed them to close out the non-conference portion of their schedule on the winning side of the things as they now hit the full time part of the SWAC schedule with an overall record of 8-13 and 4-1 in SWAC play.
On the night, Jackson State was led by Jylen Whitten with an astonishing 18 kills and 10 digs.
Marina Bianchi Brito led the Tigers with five total blocks while Damassy Thompson collected a game high 16 assists.
Other highs for the Tigers included Alana Washington with 17 digs.
The Tigers return to the court on Thursday for an away conference matchup with Alcorn State. That matchup is slated to begin at 6 p.m.
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more volleyball information and updates please follow the Tigers on Twitter at @GoJSUTigersVB, Facebook at Jackson State Volleyball, @gojsutigersvb on Instagram.
