Inconsistent play, poor defense plague Lady Jags volleyball team

The Southern University Lady Jaguar Volleyball Team hosted its 19th Annual Invitational Tournament during the weekend of October 18-19.
The Alcorn State Lady Braves defeated Lady Jaguars in four games to win the championship. Competing in the two day tournament was Southern, Alcorn State, Grambling State, Miss Valley State, Texas Southern, Alabama A&M, and Jackson State and Morris Brown University. The only SWAC team that did not compete in the event was Prairie View A&M.
The tournament that many consider as a pre-SWAC championship tournament opened with Alcorn defeating Texas Southern in three games (30-21, 30-16, and 30-23). Next up for the Lady Braves were the perennial powerhouse Lady Bulldogs of Alabama A&M, which they upset in four games (30-23, 17-30, 30-28, 30-24).
In pool B, the Lady Jaguars were forced to five games to defeat the weaker Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils (30-17, 23-30, 27-30, 30-28, 15-12). After winning the first game, the Lady jags dropped the next two before winning the final game.
“It seems like every game we have a mental breakdown, once we make a bad play our team just seems to lose focus,” said co-captain Kashanna Bridges.
Tanisha McGill played spectacular in all five games finishing with 12 kills and a .321 hitting percentage. McGill showed of her all around game as she also led the team in defensive digs with 12.
In their second match the Lady Jags needed four games to finish off Morris Brown (30-22, 26-30, 30-27, 30-26). Mayumi Takeuchi combined 10 kills, a .439 hitting percentage and 10 digs to lead Southern to the victory. McGill gave the team 9 kills and 11 digs to help them overcome Morris Brown. Kashana Bridges led the team with 14 kills.
“Our defense is still not where it should be, said Head Coach Nathaniel Denu, we rotate too slow on defense and are missing a lot of our assignments.”
For the Lady Braves, the second day started just like the first ended, with them dominating the competition. They made quick work of the Lady Tigers of Grambling State. Latoya Washington had 13 kills to lead Alcorn to victory and a berth in the championship match.
Playing more inspired and motivated than in the previous games the Lady Jags needed only four matches to do away with Jackson State (30-28, 19-30, 30-22, and 30-21). Bridges swung the momentum the Lady Jags way finishing with 12 kills and 11 digs to lead the team in both categories. Maya Valerie was second in kills with 8 followed by 7 for Takeuchi. McGill was second on the team with 10 digs while Takeuchi was next with 9. The win advanced Southern into the finals against Alcorn State.
In the first game of the finals of the tournament, the Lady Braves won 30-19. Alcorn State quickly jumped off to an early start and never looked back. The second game was no different from the first as Alcorn won 30-16. The Lady Jaguars bounced back in game three due to great hustle and teamwork to win a tough fought game 30-26.
Southern played Alcorn tough in the fourth game but ended up losing 30-23. Latoya Washington ended up with 20 kills for Alcorn State. Leading the Lady Jags in kill was McGill with 9 followed by 6 from Valerie and Takeuchi.
“It was important that we played well in this tournament because it is a pre-SWAC tournament because the past winners of this tournament usually wins the SWAC tournament.” Said Denu, “we still have a few more adjustments to make.
Perhaps the adjustments coach Denu referred to were the primary reason Southern lost its second game of the season to Dilliard University (30-26, 29-31, 30-24, 28-30, and 15-9).
After winning game one the Lady Jags blew big leads in games two and four to lose them both by two points. Dillard’s Cicely Ozen and Tamisha Brooks dominated the net with 27 and 25 kills respectfully. Leading the Lady Jags (12-10) in kills was Takeuchi and Stephanie Wright with 19 and 11. On a team where the defense is suspect at best, McGill had 17 digs followed by Bridges 13.
“In all my years of coaching, this is one of the lowest points I’ve ever had, our defense is poor and this team beat us mentally,” said Denu.
“I think our biggest problem is our blocking,” said Valerie,” our defense overall needs some work.”
“I’m not sure why we lose focus,” said Lashantel Gardner, who had 7 service aces, ” this is a mental game and both teams were hustling and some where we broke down and stopped doing what we had to do.”
Next up for the Lady Jags is Grambling State in Grambling.