Prairie View A&M fought hard against the Houston Cougars on Tuesday night in the William Nicks Building, but it could not defeat its opponent from the American Athletic Conference and dropped a 3-1 match (25-21, 23-25, 25-15, 25-22).
The Lady Panthers turned to junior outside hitter Candyce Alexander and freshman right side Lenicia Tyson led the way for Prairie View in a match that went four sets and in which three of the sets were decided by four points or less. Tyson recorded a team-high 10 kills as she tried to fill the void left by powerhouse middle blocker Magda Zietek who went down with a knee injury in the second set. Alexander put down nine kills in the loss and also had five digs and three blocks, accounting for 12.5 of the Lady Panthers’ points on Tuesday.
Trailing by as much as 20-11 in the first set, Prairie View A&M rallied in the first set and embarked on a 10-4 run to decrease its deficit to 24-21 thanks to three-consecutive kills (two by Tyson). However, that runs was cut short after a kill by Houston’s Cortney Warren (six kills, one block).
Prairie View A&M stole the second set by taking an early lead and holding on to it. The Lady Panthers took advantage of multiple service and attack errors by the Cougars. Those errors combined with an aggressive attack spelled victory for Tyson and the Lady Panthers in that set. The freshman out of Humble High School recorded five of her 10 kills in that set and was a major factor in a run that put Prairie View A&M up by as much as five points at 19-14 in the set. Houston was not able to recover from that run and lost the second set 25-22.
The Cougars (12-9) rallied in the third and fourth sets to win the match. Prairie View A&M (8-20) took its opponent to the brink in the fourth set, but it ended up losing in a 25-22 game. Houston’s Emily Howard finished with a game-high 13 kills, and she also had a game-high of five total blocks.
Lady Panthers senior setter Kelsey Espinosa came through with her third-consecutive game with 30 assists or more. She had a game-high of 33 assists to complement a seven dig performance with four kills.
Prairie View A&M continues its home-stand with a 7 p.m. match on Thursday against Texas Southern in the William Nicks Building. The game has been designated the Lady Panthers’ breast cancer awareness game, and fans are encouraged to wear pink to show support for the cause. The game will also be streamed live on the SWAC Digital Network for free. Fans can visit www.SWAC.org on game day to watch the broadcast of the game.