HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Alabama A&M (4-17, 3-3 SWAC) battled through five sets but ran out of gas in that final frame, falling 3-2 (22-25, 25-18, 25-20, 22-25, 8-15) to Grambling (8-8, 5-1 SWAC) in the Day 1 finale of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Round Up in an NCAA Division I women's volleyball match on Sunday, October 9.
 
In a tightly contested affair, the clubs would be separated by no more than three points over the first 12 points as they deadlocked at 6-6 in the early going. Five straight points as part of a 9-2 run then put the Bulldogs up 15-8 before Grambling answered with a 5-0 burst of their own to cut it to a two-point margin.
 
A&M would extend back to a 21-15 advantage before back-to-back points stemmed the tide. Consecutive block assists and a service ace took the Bulldogs to set point only to see GSU break it five straight times, closing to 24-22. Any hopes of a comeback would be dashed, however, as freshman outside hitter Bailey Duckett (Huntsville, Ala.) drilled a kill to seal the three-point victory and go up 1-0.
 
With the Bulldogs holding an early 5-3 lead in Game 2, the Tigers delivered five straight points, the last four coming on attack errors, to pull ahead 8-5. A&M would take three of the next four to get to within one but quickly saw that margin grow to 17-11 behind an 8-3 GSU run. A 5-2 burst cut it back to three, 19-16, but that would be as close as they would get as the Tigers cranked out six of the next eight points to even the match with a 25-18 victory.
 
Game 3 would be a game of runs as Grambling opened with a 6-1 run only to see the Bulldogs put together a 10-3 stretch to flip the script and go ahead 11-9. That would not last, however, as GSU used a 16-9 run to go back ahead and close out a 25-20 victory to secure a 2-1 match lead.
 
Up just 5-4 in the fourth set, A&M would double up the Tigers with an 8-4 run to make it 13-8. At that point GSU's offense would come alive with a 12-5 run of their own to take a 20-18 lead but they would be unable to hold it. Back-to-back attack errors tied it and was the beginning of a set-ending 7-2 stretch that gave the Bulldogs a 25-22 victory that knotted it up at 2-2 and sent the clubs to a decisive fifth set.
 
Following a narrow 4-3 Grambling lead, that frame would be dominated by the Tigers as they erupted for an 11-5 run that put the set, and the match, away at 15-8.
 
Freshman outside hitter Bailey Duckett (Huntsville, Ala.) led the way for the Bulldogs, racking up 12 kills, eight digs and five block assists while freshman middle blocker Kemora Coachman (Harvest, Ala.) just missed a double-double with eight kills and 15 digs.
 
Freshman setter Grace Tapscott (Hartselle, Ala.) fueled the offense and the defense with 31 assists and 19 digs in the best match of her career and freshman middle blocker Madison Reagins (Duncanville, Texas) finished with 16 digs and seven kills.
 
Jayden James led Grambling with 14 kills and 18 digs while Ana Calderon and Hillary English split the setting duties, finishing with 26 and 25 assists, respectively. Zyonn Smith finished with seven kills and 20 digs and Nyah Ellis led the way with 23 digs. Haley Gomez added 11 kills and Maggie Plush and Kai Williams each had  10 kills to round out the top performers.
 
Alabama A&M closes out the SWAC Round Up tomorrow, Monday, October 10 when they take on Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 1 p.m.