What Goes Up, Must Come Down

After the volleyball tri-match on October 17 in Clifford Seymour Gymnasium, Lady Jaguar volleyball fans may be wondering whether or not their streak of success will continue. The tri-match was originally the Coach Denu Invitational Tournament, but after two of the invited teams dropped out, the three remaining teams were forced into a tri-match.
Along with Southern University, Mississippi Valley State University and Alabama State played as well. ASU was pronounced the victor of the tri-match, defeating SU and MVSU in perfect three set matches. Southern placed second, taking their match against Mississippi Valley in three perfect matches, and losing to Alabama State. MVSU finished last.
The Devilettes of Mississippi Valley were Southern’s first opponents in the tri-match. The Lady Jags seemed to be calm during the match, executing plays perfectly, albeit slowly. Southern set the pace for the match, and Mississippi Valley couldn’t keep up. Service errors, usually a major problem for the Lady Jags, were obsolete in this match. However, a few attack errors on SU’s behalf gave a few points to MVSU. The first three sets went to Southern, resulting in a perfect match.
The second and final match of the day for the Lady Jags was against Alabama State University.
“It’s a very well coached team,” said SU head volleyball coach Venessa Jacobs, “It’s going to be a dogfight. I feel good about it. I just want us to play our game, and not get caught up in the hype,” finished Jacobs.
ASU was indeed a force to be reckoned with, as they took the first set (13-25). The Lady Jags quickly picked up on the Lady Hornets style of play, however, and the second set became the dogfight Coach Jacobs thought it would be. SU’s offensive players retaliated against the Lady Hornet’s defense, closing the score gap between the two teams. Defense picked up momentum and shut down the opposing offensive force. Unfortunately for the Lady Jags, their comeback was too late, and ASU took the second set.
The third set was a fight for survival for the Lady Jags. This set would determine whether or not they remained in the match to possibly obtain the win. While SU began the match with a four to nothing lead, it was ended abruptly by a service error, which was followed by a number of attack errors. Alabama State appeared to be fatigued, however, and also suffered from technical errors such as bad sets and service errors. The teams tied (21-21) before the Lady Hornets dominated the court off of the Lady Jag’s errors and took the win (21-25).
In the third set, the Lady Jags took the offset and gave the Lady Hornets a dogfight of a lifetime when they came together and tied once again nearing the end again for (21-21), Southern once again lost the set which ended in a 3-0 knockout.
“We definitely didn’t put our best foot forward,” said Coach Jacobs after the loss, “It was a good effort, but it wasn’t our best effort.”
In their next match on October 22, the Lady Jags face the Lady Tigers of Grambling State University, in Clifford Seymour Gymnasium and it is their last home game of the season.