BOX SCORE
In a much-needed and clutch 3-2 win over Southern Monday night in Baton Rouge, La., Prairie View A&M improved its Southwestern Athletic Conference record to 2-0. The Lady Panthers had three players set career-highs and one player set a season-high in the five-game match.
In the fifth set senior outside hitter Breanna McNeil's kill to tie the game at 7-7 was followed by a Bruna Menezes kill and a Southern attack error to give Prairie View a 9-7 lead. It forced Southern to take a timeout. Menezes came out of the timeout and followed it up with another kill off of an assist by junior setter Kelsey Espinosa. The Lady Panthers held off a late run by Southern and finished the game off on an 8-4 run for the victory.
McNeil had a career-high 21 kills to complement a .300 attack percentage and 14 digs. Espinosa set a career-high 53 assists, which was 10 more than her previous high set against New Orleans on Sept. 1. Sophomore defensive specialist LaKeisha Allen had a career-high 19 digs. Menezes' 18 kills turned out to be a season-high. Prairie View A&M had three players finish with 10 or more kills thanks to Rachel Owens' 11 kills.
Prairie View A&M blasted the Jaguars in Set 1 en route to a 25-14 win. The Lady Panthers jumped out to a 15-11 lead after McNeil took at set from Espinosa and spiked it for a kill. Prairie View A&M then closed the set out on a 10-3 run, taking advantage of six Southern attack errors during that stretch.
Espinosa picked up 10 assists during that first set, while freshman outside hitter Owens tallied six kills.
Southern, however, fired back in Set 2. The Jaguars took a 14-11 lead after an Owens attack error, and Prairie View A&M would not recover from that deficit. The Panthers tied the game at 17 after an attack error by Southern's Marisol Marcias, but the Jaguars responded with a 4-0 run that put that set out of reach.
Set 3 was highlighted by Prairie View A&M jumping out to a 15-4 lead. The set was tied a 4-4 when Prairie View A&M's Menezes put down a service ace to spark an 11-0 run. Ironically Prairie View A&M's final scoring play during that run was a Menezes ace. Southern did not recover from that deficit, and the Lady Panthers won the set 25-12.
Southern turned the tables in the fourth set and won 25-22, but it only delayed the inevitable.
Prairie View A&M will have its next match against rival Texas Southern at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in Houston streamed live via SWAC TV.
