BOX SCORE

ITTA BENA, MISS. - There's an old adage that says it's not how you start, but rather how you finish.

Well in the case of Prairie View A&M volleyball, how the Lady Panthers finished the regular season is exactly how they started their run in the 2019 Southwestern Athletic Conference Volleyball Tournament.

The No. 2 seed Lady Panthers (16-21) prevailed over seventh-seeded Arkansas-Pine Bluff (10-24) in straight sets (25-21, 25-15, 25-18) to advance to the semifinal round for the second-straight year.
 

The Lady Panthers fell behind 7-3 in the opening frame, but managed to keep close behind some Lady Lions' miscues and all-around efforts from junior middle blocker Victoria Pearson. After back-to-back kills by UAPB's Zyaire Garrit made it 14-10, the Lady Panthers came out of a timeout with guns blazing, as Pearson figured in on a pair of kills and two block assists during a 7-1 run that put them ahead 17-15.

"Today we started off a little slow, but mid-set we started playing our game," PVAMU head coach TaCho Tyler said. "We hustled a lot, which helped us. We started serving even better, and we started spreading the offense around. I think that's what made us successful today."

The teams then began trading points, with Pearson leading the offensive attack. UAPB pushed late, getting within 22-21 but kills from freshman middle blocker Hannah Estupinan and senior right side hitter CeTara Carter helped lock up the set for Prairie View A&M.

During the second set, the score was knotted at 5-5 before a 4-0 run gave Prairie View a 9-5 lead over UAPB. The Lady Lions pulled within two, but junior outside hitter Tamaira Armstrong put away a trio of kills to spark an 8-2 run, a surge that powered the Lady Panthers to the decisive set two win.  

The teams were tied at 3-3 in the final set, before Prairie View took a 5-3 lead over UAPB. The team fought off a small push from the Lady Lions and used an explosive 7-2 run to push the score to 17-9. Prairie View cruised from there, with Pearson slamming the door on the victory with her team-best ninth kill of the' night.

Estupinan shared the team lead for kills with Pearson. Armstrong followed with eight kills, four digs and one block. Senior and junior setters Erica Jimenez and Melanie Arenas also contributed with 11 digs each.

The Lady Panthers dominated offensively, hitting at a scintillating .316 attack percentage while limiting UAPB to a .165 percentage.

Next Up:
Prairie View A&M faces Jackson State in the SWAC semifinals, with start time set for 4 p.m. The match can be viewed on the SWAC Digital Network.