PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas – Texas Southern started its latest weekend swing with a sweep over rival Prairie View A&M 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 26-24) at the Baby Dome on Friday night.
The Tigers improved to 7-14 overall and 6-3 in SWAC play behind a balanced offensive attack and a strong defensive performance. Prairie View A&M fell to 6-16 overall and 6-3 in conference action.
Davison opened the match with a service ace before Keldri Young followed with a kill to give the Tigers a quick 2-0 lead. After Prairie View A&M rallied to tie the score at 4, Texas Southern responded with a productive offensive stretch. Aliyah Spencer delivered consecutive kills during a run that helped the Tigers build a 10-5 advantage.
Prairie View A&M battled back but Texas Southern maintained its composure, however, as Lee, Battle and Harper provided key kills to keep the Tigers in front. The Tigers finished with 12 kills in the opening set and secured a 25-19 victory to take a 1-0 match lead.
In set two, Texas Southern went up 10-4 but PVAMU closed to within 12-10 until a 7-0 run upped the lead to 19-10 by TSU. TSU regrouped and broke the game open as the Tigers recorded 17 kills against just three attack errors.
Set three was back-and-forth as Prairie View A&M mounted its strongest challenge of the match in the third set, forcing Texas Southern into a tightly contested finish.
The Panthers moved ahead 21-17 but TSU refused to back down Selena Morales had two kills along with a Keldri Young ace to move ahead 22-21. TSU would stake a 24-22 lead but PVAMU tied it at 24-all until a Gracie Lee kill and Aliyah Spencer blocked ended the match in style.
Battle led Texas Southern with 10 kills and 10 digs, while Lee finished with eight kills and a .316 hitting percentage. Emory Harper contributed seven kills, Morales added six, and Spencer and Morgynne McQueen recorded four kills apiece.
Davison finished with 19 assists and two service aces, while Walker added 14 assists and 11 digs. Young also recorded two service aces.
Keagan St. Junious led all players with 20 digs as Texas Southern finished with 60 digs overall.
Both teams meet again in Houston on Sunday at 5 p.m. inside the H&PE Arena.
