Lady Tigers dominate Mississippi Valley State in sweep

HOUSTON – Texas Southern used all 18 players on its roster for the first time this season in turning away Mississippi Valley State in three sets Friday.
 
Scores of the match were 25-18, 25-14, and 25-7.
 
Freshman outside hitter Alexis Austin (pictured right) turned in career-high performances of 12 kills and a .476 hitting percentage in leading Texas Southern to victory.
 
The Lady Tigers (13-9) improved to 9-1 in Southwestern Athletic Conference play. Mississippi Valley State (2-19) remained winless through 10 league contests.
 
Senior hitter Kali Fluke added 10 kills and five total blocks (one solo, four assisted) for the Lady Tigers. She hit .389 for the match and also dug five Valley attacks.
 
Cassidy Jannson added six kills for the Lady Tigers, while Nicole Robinson tallied five kills on seven total attempts, good for a .714 hitting percentage.
 
TSU's setters Asia Howard and Ellena Torres both reached double-figures in assists, handing out 17 and 10, respectively. Senior defensive specialist Allison Woods recorded eight digs while wearing the libero jersey Friday.
 
Cynthia Richardson led Valley with six kills, while Kalin Barnes chipped in five kills for the visiting Devilettes.
 
Valley was simply no match for Texas Southern, as the Lady Tigers hit a season-high .400 as a team, knocking down 43 kills and committing only nine attacking errors on 85 attempts. On the other side of the net, the Devilettes narrowly avoided becoming the fifth team this season to hit for a negative percentage against TSU, hitting exactly .000 (22 kills and 22 errors on 84 attempts).
 
The Lady Tigers started slow, ceding four of the first five points of the match, but reclaimed the lead with six unanswered points. Valley stilled stayed within striking distance of TSU for most of the opening set, before TSU finished it with five consecutive points.
 
Valley again gave a strong showing in set two, in which the Devilettes knocked down 10 kills and hit .233 as a team. It was not until TSU went on an 8-1 run, stretching its lead to 17-9, that the Lady Tigers began to pull away. Jannson and Robinson knocked down two kills apiece during that stretch.
 
After hitting .486 as a team in set two, the Lady Tigers completely overwhelmed their guests in set three, hitting .556 while Valley hit minus-.412, tallying only one kill and committing eight errors. TSU had unanswered runs of nine points and eight points that stretched an early 4-3 lead to 21-4.
 
Fluke and Jemiah Powell combined for three blocks during TSU's 9-0 run that stretched the Lady Tigers' lead to 13-3. The ensuing 8-0 run was fueled primarily by five Valley attack errors.
 
Desiree Howard made her collegiate debut for the Lady Tigers with the score 14-4 in favor of the home team. With Valley providing most of TSU's points down the stretch on attack errors, Howard had to wait until point no. 24, when she recorded her first kill as a Lady Tiger.
 
TSU's Jillian Favor ended the contest seconds later when she served an ace on match point to give the Lady Tigers the win.
 
The Lady Tigers return to action Friday when they host Jackson State. With H&PE Arena in use for Homecoming 2016 activities, the match will be played at the Barnett Fieldhouse, located at 6800 Fairway Dr. First serve has been moved ahead to 4 p.m.