BOX SCORE HUNTSVILLE, Texas – The Prairie View A&M volleyball team nearly overcame a two-set deficit in its season opener at Sam Houston State, but the comeback fell just shy as the Lady Panthers dropped a five-set affair to the host of the 42nd Annual Bearkat Invitational Friday evening.
Prairie View A&M (0-1) fell 11-25 and 14-25 in the first two sets before rebounding for a 25-21 third-set win. After forcing a fifth set with a scintillating 32-30 victory in the fourth set, the Lady Panthers were nipped 10-15 in the final frame.
Following a sluggish effort in the first two sets, Prairie View A&M surged to a 14-10 advantage midway through the third frame with a 7-3 run powered by freshman right side hitter Cydni Miller, who picked up a kill and a pair of service aces during the spurt. The Bearkats (1-0) twice got within one of the Lady Panthers, who stayed ahead by capitalizing on the opponents' misplays.
"It was a thriller," said head PVAMU volleyball coach TaCho Tyler. "We came out slow offensively in the first two sets. But our serve receive and defense stay consistent which gave our hitters the fuel that they needed to come alive. Cetera Carter was a dominant force in the middle and freshman setter Jakarta Hope ran the floor in her collegiate debut."
An Ashley Lewis kill cut Prairie View A&M's lead to 19-17, but the Lady Panthers closed the set with a pair of kills by senior right side hitter Carter and a set-winning ace from Miller.
After a slow start to set four resulted in a 6-3 deficit, Prairie View A&M regrouped to tie things up 9-9. From there, the sides traded points with neither team able to gain much distance until a Lewis spike made it 19-16 in favor of the Bearkats.
The Lady Panthers responded with a 7-3 run to briefly take the upper hand, and following several match point opportunities, a trio of Bearkat errors late forced the fifth and deciding set, where Prairie View A&M fell behind early on due to self-inflicted wounds. Though the Lady Panthers closed within two, they were outpointed 5-2 down the stretch.
Carter led Prairie View A&M with 15 kills on a .385 attack clip, figuring in on six total blocks. Senior outside hitter Jaylan Thomas put down 13 kills and added 11 digs. Freshman libero Skyla Childs led with 14 digs, and freshman setter Ja. Hope put up 33 assists and collected 11 digs.
"This was a total team effort to push the match to five sets against a formidable opponent like Sam Houston," Tyler." said. This was definitely something to build on moving forward and turning close matches into wins."
Four Bearkat players posted double-digit kill totals, with Lewis' 22 spikes a match-high. She also posted a match-high 15 digs. Sam Houston State's Madilyn Miles posted 40 assists.
Prairie View A&M returns to action tomorrow for a twin-bill, starting with a 9:30 a.m. contest against Oral Roberts and ending with a 3:30 p.m. match versus Louisiana Tech.
#pvamuvolleyball
