Lady Jags Volleyball on a four game win streak

When on the home scale, the Southern University women’s volleyball team conceptualizes the number five as they keep winning during the nervous drumroll called the fifth set.
The Lady Jags are now on a four game win streak after defeating opponents Prairie View A&M University and University of New Orleans. The Lady Jags faced the PVAMU Lady Panthers on October 7 in Clifford Seymour Gym, their first home game after winning two consecutive perfect matches away against Grambling State and Alcorn State.
SU’s powerhouse defense was their saving grace, as service errors continued to plague the team. Service errors cost the Lady Jags their last home game, as two missed serves in the fifth set allowed Arkansas Pine-Bluff to establish their own two-point lead and to win the match. Prairie View also suffered from a number of technical issues that gave the Lady Jags time to regain the lead. Beautifully executed plays, and an ace serve by SU sophomore Melodie Malone led the Lady Jags to the win in the first set, the final score 25-21.
The second set began in the Lady Jags favor, with a strong defense preventing PV from making any headway in scoring. However, two consecutive SU service errors resulted in the loss of momentum for the Lady Jags, which the Lady Panthers took advantage of, turning the tide in their favor. SU’s recovery was too late however, and while the score remained close, PV took the second set (25-27).
Although Prairie View had trouble with service errors and ball handling, they still maintained their lead over the Lady Jags throughout the set. Momentum is a major driving force for SU, and without any the third set went to Prairie View (17-25).
The fourth set opened with back-to-back service errors from both SU and PV. The Lady Jags resorted to tipping the ball over the net, in an effort to throw PVAMU’s momentum off. While the tipping method didn’t work, the Lady Jags defense found their sweet spot and began deflecting PV attacks, rebuilding momentum and confidence. Coach Venessa Jacobs credited the sudden turn around to the team’s defensive players, specifically, sophomore Bayley Neubauer.
“I’m proud of them for working hard, I’m especially proud of Bayley Neubauer,” said Jacobs, “She came in and shut their outside hitters down.”
The Lady Jags took the win of the fourth set, 26-24, tying the match and rallying the spirits of the SU fans in attendance. With their momentum back, and spirits high, the Lady Jags took the fifth set (15-7), raising their two game lead to a third.
The fourth game in the win streak for SU was their game against rivals University of New Orleans in which the Lady Jags wore pink to celebrate breast cancer awareness.
While UNO won the first two sets consecutively, the Lady Jags fought each time, the first set ending (28-30) and the second (19-25). In the third set, Coach Jacobs implemented defensive player Neubauer, and shortly thereafter the SU defense reassembled, and the assault from UNO was put to an end. The final three sets went the way of the Lady Jags, the third (25-17), the fourth (25-23) and the fifth (17-15).
The Lady Jags have a home game against Texas Southern on Wednesday October 15. Also the Lady Jags band together as they invite Mississippi Valley State, Alcorn State, and Alabama State in an old-fashioned hoorah at the Coach Denu Invitational Tournament held between Friday October 17 and Saturday October 18.