A&M Falls on Senior Night to Jackson State 3-2

Box Score NORMAL - In a heart wrenching loss to Jackson State on Thursday night, two Alabama A&M Lady Bulldogs amassed double-figure kills in a five-set (25-23, 25-22, 18-25, 20-25, and 10-15) thriller in the T.M. Elmore Gymnasium.

A&M’s senior and junior duo of Clairissa Moore and Leslie Ekpe provided double kill performances on the night. Moore paced the Maroon & White with 13 kills, while Ekpe amassed 10. Junior Ashley Forman delivered 39 assists among the squad. Senior Mary Carman-Aponte contributed to the defense with 13 digs, while fellow senior Mariah Brown posted five kills.

Collectively, the Lady Bulldogs gathered 50 kills on 139 attempts, five service aces, 49 digs and eight team blocks.

Christine Edwards paced Jackson State with 28 kills, 16 digs and eight service aces, while Mikayla Rolle contributed to the offense with 15 kills. Jenna Siddiqui guided the offense with 53 assists.

The Tigers accumulated 59 kills on 153 attempts, 53 digs, 12 service aces and 13 team blocks.
Alabama A&M took sets one and two but not without fiery attempts by the defending SWAC champions who tied set one 19-19 before A&M was able to break the tie and went one to a 25-23 set one win.

Game two went all Lady Bulldogs way as they held their largest lead of the match 18-11 to hold J-State at bay moving on to a 25-22 win and a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.

A&M then took time to recognize their three seniors participating in their final home match of their collegiate careers. The seniors include Clairissa Moore, Mariah Brown and Mary Carmen-Aponte.

They returned from the standard-match intermission seeking vengeance and determined for a set three victory. The third set consisted of six ties, four lead changes and a match-low .042 hitting percentage for AAMU. The two teams saw their final tie at the 16-16 mark. JSU went on to monopolized on five Lady Bulldog errors and crushed four kills to garner their first of three set wins 25-20.

Once again set four started off with the Lady Bulldogs on fire but the Lady Tigers were determined not to lose the Eastern Division title. With the score at 13-10, JSU went on a six o run that A&M could never recover from and eventually captured set four 25-20.

The fifth and final set was a championship style game, with AAMU pulling out of a five-point deficit and tying the contest at the 7-7 mark. Jackson State put together a five point run then a six point run that A&M was never able to recover from and fell in the heartbreaker 15-10.

The win secures the Eastern division title for a second straight year for J-State. AAMU drops to 8-19 overall and 5-2 on the season, while JSU advances to 17-11 and 5-0.

The Lady Bulldogs will travel to Montgomery, Ala. to face in-state rival Alabama State in both teams season finale on Tuesday, November 6^th at 7 p.m.

Print Friendly Version