The Prairie View A&M University Lady Panther volleyball team (11-11, 5-1 SWAC) extended their winning streak to seven matches by sweeping arch rival Texas Southern (3-14, 1-4 SWAC) and defeating Centenary 3-2. The Lady Panthers beat TSU 30-24, 30-20 and 30-22 on Wednesday, Oct. 12. Leading the way for Prairie View were setter Litiana Vakasausau, who was credited with 43 assists, and outside hitter Crystal Stigler who had 17 kills.
Outside hitters Sharla Cannon and Shannon Harrison followed with 16 and 12 kills respectively. On the defensive side of the court, the Lady Panthers used balanced play to keep the Lady Tigers off guard. Maghen Orebo led Prairie View in digs tallying a total of nine. Libero Brandie Johnson, who leads the SWAC in digs, contributed eight.
“Our players worked hard during warm-ups and throughout the match,” said head coach Alicia Pete. “We came out of the locker room with a lot of focus.
The young ladies were communicating with each other more on the court during the games. They’re beginning to meet the goals we’ve set by taking each game one at a time. Blocking is an area where we could stand some improvement. When that happens, we will be successful at meeting all of our team goals.
“The team and I look forward to seeing the support we had against Texas Southern to continue throughout the remainder of the season,” added Pete. “We invite all students, faculty and staff to attend.”
Prairie View’s next opponent, the Centenary Lady Gents, proved to be stiff competition forcing the Panthers into a fifth and deciding game on Monday, Oct. 17.
The Lady Panthers suffered a brief scare during their match against Centenary when starting outside hitter Shannon Harrison collided with a concrete barrier after hustling for an errant pass. Harrison left the court for two plays and returned to lead the Lady Panthers to victory over the Centenary Lady Gents 30-26, 20-30, 31-29, 26-30 and 15-8. Harrison led Prairie View with 21 kills and 15 digs.
Prairie View’s Crystal Stigler, who recently earned co-defensive player of the week honors, contributed 20 kills. Stigler and Tamika Newman also led Prairie View at the net with their blocking. Stigler had one solo block and five block assists and Newman recorded three solo blocks and two block assists. Stigler rounded out her night with four service aces and six digs.
Co-captains Alexandria Nuels and Vakasausau contributed 21 and 57 assists respectively.
Defensively for the Lady Panthers, Vakasausau had 16 digs, Brandie Johnson had 10, followed by Nuels with nine and Orebo with eight.
“I feel like we’ve improved tremendously hitting the ball from the last time we faced Centenary,” said Pete. “In our practices we’ve been executing a lot of drills that focus on hitting the ball. The extra practice has been very effective for us.”
With the victory, Prairie View extended their winning streak to seven matches.
Prairie View will return to the court on Friday, Oct. 21 to play the University of Texas-Pan American in Edinburg, Texas at 7 p.m.