A freshman stepped up on senior night as the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff won its final home volleyball match of the season.
UAPB swept Alcorn State 25-14, 25-23, 25-22 for its second win against the Lady Braves this year.
Head coach Gabrielle Floyd said winning on senior night is always a good feeling.
“It feels really good to be able to get a win, especially senior night,” Floyd said. “The last home game for our seniors, especially those that have been here four years, so I know it was an emotional day overall.”
Freshman middle blocker Marlina Anderson led UAPB (4-24, 2-12 SWAC) with 11 kills, her second-highest total of the season. She also delivered the match-clinching kill in the third set.
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Anderson said the Lady Lions came together to send the seniors out on top.
“We wanted it really bad,” Anderson said. “Since the season hasn’t gone how we wanted it to, we had to end on a good note at home.”
Sophomore blocker Ashanti Butler followed Anderson with 7 kills, while senior hitter Zykia Jones finished with 6. Junior setter Anaiah Jordan had 17 assists, followed by junior Lyla Jones with 12. Senior blocker Laila Fortson and junior Amayah Jones each had four solo blocks and a block assist.
Alcorn State (1-23, 0-14) junior Demya Tate led the Lady Braves with 7 kills. Senior Brooklyn Shook led in assists with 10, and sophomore Jalayah Hamby led in blocks with four.
The first set started close. UAPB led 5-2 early, but Alcorn came back to tie it at 6, then at 7. The Lady Lions pulled away from there and finished the set on a 5-0 run.
The second set was much more competitive. UAPB started ahead 3-0, but the set went on to feature eight ties. Zykia Jones ultimately finished the set with her fourth kill of the match after the Lady Braves fought off a set point.
The third was another tight set. UAPB hovered around a 2-point lead much of the set. The Lady Lions led by as much as 14-9 early, but Alcorn fought back to take an 18-17 lead. UAPB responded again and pulled ahead 24-21. The Lady Braves again fought off a match point before Anderson took a pass from Jordan and fired it home to finish the night.
Floyd said the Lady Lions had to ensure Alcorn’s runs in the second and third sets didn’t rattle them.
“We were just trying to keep our young ladies more focused,” Floyd said. “I feel like if we play our game, we have more success. So, just trying to make sure we didn’t allow them to get us rattled and start playing frantic.”
Before the match, UAPB honored its four seniors: Fortson, Zykia Jones, Keaundra Sykes and Arah Anoma. Jones ended the night with 939 career kills and is already UAPB’s all-time kills leader.
Floyd said it was bittersweet for this to be their last home game as Lady Lions.
“Arah, she just came this year, but she came in, positive attitude and just a good person to have on the team,” Floyd said. “(Sykes), she hasn’t had a chance to play too often this year, because she’s dealing with injuries, but as far as Laila and Zykia, they’ve been staples in the program, for sure. Those ones we could always depend on and things like that.”
UAPB will wrap up the season next week with road matches at Prairie View A&M on Nov. 15 and Texas Southern on Nov. 17.