BATON ROUGE, La. – Having taken their first two matches in the Bayou, and first two sets of the day, Alabama A&M (7-22, 6-7 SWAC) could not hold off Texas Southern (6-17, 6-6 SWAC) as they fell 3-2 in the final match of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Round Up and an NCAA Division I women's volleyball match on Monday, October 31. They fell by scores of 13-25, 20-25, 25-18, 25-19, 15-8.
 
Following an early 5-5 tie, the Bulldogs would make short work of TSU in the opening frame as they erupted for a 12-2 run that broke it open at 17-7. The Tigers would break that stretch with a mini 4-0 run to get within six but that would be as close as they would come. From there, A&M took eight of the next 10 points to lock up the 25-13 victory and 1-0 match lead.
 
Alabama A&M would pick up in Game 2 where they left off in the opening frame as they surged out to an 8-2 lead only to see Texas Southern work their way back to within 18-17. They would come no closer as the Bulldogs pounded out a set-ending 7-3 stretch to wrap up a 25-20 decision and take a two set advantage.
 
The momentum would change in the third set, however, as TSU took a 10-4 lead before A&M cut it to two with a 4-0 run of their own. Within one on two occasions, the last at 13-12, the Bulldogs would not be able to stop what would be a set-deciding 7-0 burst that pushed it to an eight point lead. They would battle back to within four at 22-18 but three straight points got the Tigers on the board with a 25-18 decision.
 
The teams would stay within four points in Game 4 before Texas Southern stretched to leads of 18-13 and 19-14. The Bulldogs would use a 3-0 burst to get within two but that would be it as a 6-3 run wrapped up the frame and sent the teams to a decisive fifth set.
 
That would end up being a game of runs in the early going as A&M opened with a 3-0 stretch before TSU answered with four straight as part of a 9-2 run that left them with a 9-5 advantage. Following a kill by freshman outside hitter Bailey Duckett (Huntsville, Ala.), it would get no closer from there as the Tigers wrapped up a 15-8 victory to pull out the come-from-behind 3-2 decision.
 
Freshman outside hitter Caitlin Shaw (Desoto, Texas) led the way for Alabama A&M with 19 kills and eight digs while Duckett finished with 12 kills and 10 digs. Freshman libero Miya Benson (Desoto, Texas) anchored the defense with 12 digs and freshman middle blocker Madison Reagins (Duncanville, Texas) added seven kills and nine digs. Freshman setter Grace Tapscott (Hartselle, Ala.) rounded out the top performers with 32 assists.
 
Janiya Chapman led Texas Southern with 16 kills while Kaitlyn Scroggins finished with 14 digs. Thalia Cordero-Moreno just missed a double-double with eight kills and 13 digs and Danielle Lilley chipped in with nine kills and 10 digs. Dallas Balanay-Flores fueled the offense with 31 assists and Alaiyah Fields added 14.
 
The Bulldogs return to action with a trip to the Sunshine State next weekend, taking on Bethune-Cookman at 11 a.m. on Sunday, November 6 and defending league champion Florida A&M at 5 p.m. on Monday, November 7.