MAGNOLIA, Ark. | The Grambling State University volleyball team dropped a pair of matches to open play at the Dr. Margaret Downing Invitational on Friday as the Lady Tigers fell to host Southern Arkansas, 3-1, and to Mississippi College, 3-2 at the W.T. Watson Center.
 
Against Southern Arkansas, the Lady Tigers (2-9) dropped the four-set affair, 25-14, 16-25, 25-19, 25-22.
 
Kevreion Ward paced the offense against the Lady Muleriders with 16 kills, while Chasity Nicks added 11. Diemond Richardson chipped in with 20 assists, and L'Muriell Thrower recorded 14. Defensively, Erineka Mollere led the way with 23 digs as Talicia Lang registered 11.
 
Alexia Southern and Alli O'Banion led Southern Arkansas offensively with 15 and 13 kills, respectively. Alexa Bass and Savannah Pillow combined for 50 of the Lady Muleriders' 53 assists. Whitney Brown tallied 17 digs of the team's 61 digs.
 
In the second match, Mississippi College (4-4) won the five-set thriller, 25-23, 13-25, 14-25, 25-20, 15-11.
 
Nicks paced the Lady Tigers with 19 kills and 15 digs. Ward chipped in with 12 kills, while Jaivienna Jones added 10 kills. Thrower finished with a double-double of 28 assists and 21 digs, while Richardson registered 24 assists and eight digs. Mollere led the way with 30 digs, while Lang finished with 18 digs.
 
Krista Zieschang and Kayana Mitchell led the Lady Choctaws with 14 and 11 kills each. Sydney Chandler registered 19 assists and Amanda Torres added 16 assists and 10 digs.  Julia Martin led four players in digs with 15, while Chandler and Jill Brown recorded 12 and 11 respectively.
 
Turning Point
Against Southern Arkansas, the Lady Tigers got out of the gate slowly and dropped the first set, 25-14. However, in the second set, Grambling State took control to grab a 25-16 win. The Lady Tigers appeared to have the game in hand in the third set, but watched Southern Arkansas rally for a 25-19 win. The Lady Muleriders claimed the victory with a fourth-set 25-22 victory.
 
In the nightcap against Mississippi College, Grambling State dropped the opening set 25-23, but bounced back in a big way in the second and third sets.
 
In the second set, the Lady Tigers jumped out to a 14-4 lead before taking the set, 25-13. Grambling State opened the third with a 16-9 advantage before running away with a 25-14 victory.
 
However, Mississippi College was able to pull out the victory with a close 25-20 win in the fourth set to force the fifth and deciding set. In the final set, the Lady Choctaws led 11-9 and were forced to call a timeout before outscoring the Lady Tigers, 4-2, to grab the match.
 
Inside the Numbers
· Against SAU, Keverion Ward finished with 16 kills on 33 total attempts (.394 hitting percentage).
· Grambling State, in the opening match, registered 43 kills on 136 attempts (.140), 53 digs, 42 assists, eight total team blocks and six service aces.
· Against Southern Arkansas, there were 11 ties and eight lead changes.
· For the two matches, Nicks registered 30 kills.
· Grambling State finished the match against Mississippi College with 60 kills (.189), 100 digs, 56 assists, six service aces and five total team blacks.
· Against Mississippi College, there were 12 ties and three lead changes.
· The Lady Tigers combined for 103 kills, 153 digs, 98 assists, 13 total team blocks and 12 service assists in the two matches.
 
Up Next
Grambling State continues play at the Dr. Margaret Downing Invitational hosted by Southern Arkansas University on Saturday as the Lady Tigers play Texas A&M – International at 9 a.m. and conclude the tournament with a 1 p.m. match against Arkansas-Monticello.
 
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