BOX SCORE
A short-handed Prairie View A&M volleyball squad gave the top team in the Southwestern Athletic Conference Eastern Division a scare in a 3-1 loss on Friday night in the William Nicks Building.

The Lady Panthers held the lead for most of the first set, taking advantage of Alabama State errors and a balanced scoring attack with two setters on the court at the same time in seniors Kelsey Espinosa and Monecia Preston. Prairie View A&M held an 18-10 lead thanks to a kill by senior middle blocker Janette Batista, followed by an Alabama State attack error. However, Alabama State closed the set out on a 15-5 run to win it 25-23.

The Lady Panthers stuck to a similar strategy in Set 2 and executed in the end of the set to hold on and take a 25-17 win. Batista amassed four of her 13 kills in the second set en route to the win, while Preston and Espinosa seemed to work well on the court together. 

Junior outside hitter Candyce Alexander entered the match in Set 3, recovering from illness, and provided a spark off of the bench with seven kills in the match. Alabama State, however, began to hit its stride defensively in the third set, gaining points on blocks and Prairie View A&M attack errors to take an early lead and hold on for a 25-20 win. The Lady Hornets went on to win Game 4 in similar fashion to take the match.

With Alexander missing in the first two games, Espinosa stepped up defensively on the front line. She came through with two big solo blocks to complement 34 assists in the 3-1 loss. Freshman Lenicia Tyson was an offensive contributor with 10 kills for Prairie View A&M, and junior Libero LaKeisha Allen was the team leader with 16 digs to go along with one service ace and one kill.