BOX SCORE
The Prairie View Lady Panthers clinched the Southwestern Athletic Conference Western Division Championship for the third-straight year with an emotional rollercoaster of a 3-2 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff Thursday night in the Williams Nicks Building.
The Lady Panthers started the match by winning the first game 25-13. They dropped the next two matches 24-18 and 25-23 as UAPB settled into a rhythm. Trailing 2-1 in the fourth match, the Lady Panthers went on a 12-5 run, which was capped off with a kill by junior outside hitter Charae Caldwell and an attack error by UAPB.
In the fifth match, the Lady Panthers went on 4-0 run to take the lead. Senior outside hitter Bruna Menezes and junior hitter Rachel Owens sparked the momentum with two-straight kills to go on an 11-6 run to win the match.
Senior outside hitter Breanna McNeil led the Lady Panthers with 13 kills and 9 digs. Caldwell and Owens complemented the McNeil's performance with nine kills each. Sophomore libero Shanice Faison led the Lady Panthers defensively with a team-high 14 digs. Junior setters Kelsey Espinosa and Monecia Preston contributed to the defensive side with 12 digs apiece. Espinosa turned in a double-double with 41 assist and 11 digs.
Prairie View A&M made further separation in the SWAC Western Division by improving its conference record to 7-1. It will play host to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 5 in the William Nicks Building.
