Southern volleyball honors seniors in home finale

Kills, digs, and aces. Not everyone knows what these terms mean, but to Coach Vanessa Jacobs and her volleyball team they mean a lot. And after a long season in which the SWAC tournament is around the corner, change is coming to the program.
                  The first major change is the graduation of four seniors at the end of the year. Southern honored Sarah Jones, Chanda Journet, Michelle Williams, and Simone Beasley for the contributions to the program Wednesday night in the Jaguars home finale game against winless Alcorn State.
The Jaguars successfully defeated the Lady Braves 3-1, taking three of four games 25-11, 25-11, and 25-16. The Lady Jaguars still remain in fourth place in the West Division standings with one league game remaining. They’ll host their season finale Nov.11 against Grambling, who’s currently in third.
Coach Jacobs said that the next game is very important for her team, which fell below .500 after a 2-3 loss at Arkansas Pine-Bluff on Monday.
“That’s one of the things we are going to push in the next few practices,” said Jacobs. “And having Deysia, one of or starters out, we’re going to have to rely on Jaquel and or Melodie to get it done.”
                  Freshman Deysia Burden left the game after colliding with teammate Phalen Clark in set two. Both players left the game with apparent foot injuries. Clark returned for set four, while Burden spent the remainder of the game on crutches.
Jacobs said Burden sprained her ankle and hopes she’s healthy for the SWAC tournament starting Nov. 22.
“I thought they responded well to have two starters go down at the same time,” said Jacobs.
Despite a courageous effort, the Lady Braves came up short again. The Lady Jaguars took the first two sets. The Braves responded by taking set three, using a 4-0 run to start the match. They led by as many as five points before SU stormed back, tying the set 15-15.
                  Beasley recorded a .387 hitting percentage and led the team with 14 kills on the night. Sophomore Leilani Lealaimatafao added 10 kills. The Jaguars recorded 22 hitting errors and added 16 blocks. Journet led the Jaguars with 32 assists and Clark added 13.
                  The Braves entered the match having won their first game of the season against Tougaloo on Monday. DeAmber Doughty led Alcorn with nine kills while Brisha Coffee and Kenya Parker tied with seven. Sydney Mellom led with 23 assists and Vanessa Ortega finished with 23 digs to lead the back line.
Jacobs added that Alcorn was a dangerous team and that that needed to avoid a fifth set.
“They’re a well coached team that can come back and surprise you. We didn’t want any surprises.”