Pine Bluff too tough for Lady Jags

 
It took the Lady Lions of Arkansas Pine Bluff four matches to defeat the Lady Jaguars on their home court Monday night.
The Lions (5-12, 3-1) won three straight sets to remain in third place of the Southwestern Athletic Conference while the Jaguars (2-19, 0-3) remain winless.
Coach Nathaniel Denu said he liked his teams’ spirit against the Lions after losses to the Lady Panthers of Prairie View and the University of New Orleans last week.
Last night SU looked to rebound from those losses, which they started with a 25-22 win in set one. From there, the Jaguars found itself rallying scoring runs that eventually appeared unsuccessful.
“They showed me a lot of aggression,” Denu said. “A lot of them were hard on themselves because of the simple mistakes that they made.”
The Jaguars committed 23 attack errors on the night, mostly coming late in sets when they needed points. Though the Jaguars won the first set, it was Arkansas Pine Bluffs’ fight that kept SU off balance.
“I’ve been talking to the girls a lot as far as getting them to see what it takes to win,” Pine Bluff coach Kyetta May said shortly after the match. “They got a chance to do some self evaluating. I told everybody to come out and do their role and everybody did that.”
The Lady Jaguars last defeated Pine Bluff in five sets during its Volleyball Invitational on October 5^th.  SU outscored Pine Bluff in the first two sets by 14 points.
The Lions had a 6-0 scoring to begin set four. SU eventually closed the gap, a kill shot by sophomore Marisol Macias cut into Pine Bluff’s lead 14-12. The comeback didn’t last long as the Lions used a 7-0 run that gave them the momentum they needed to give SU its third straight home loss.
For the Lions, Audrey Sherles led with 15 kills with a .533 hitting average. Jacquia Bell recorded 14 kills wiith a .417 average to lead SU.
“This time around I wanted to make sure every individual played their part,” May said. “Whether they were on the bench or on the court. I think everybody did a better job of that oppose to when we played Southern in the tournament.”
The Lady Jaguars return Wednesday for a matchup against in-state rival Grambling. The Tigers are the lone team without a win this season.
“You know how it is when it comes to Grambling,” Denu said. “The records go out of the door and we’re ready to fight each other.”