BATON ROUGE, La. | Grambling State volleyball battled hard on the road Monday evening but came up short in four sets against Southern University, 3–1, inside Seymour Gymnasium.

The Lady Tigers dropped the match by scores of 17–25, 21–25, 26–24, and 18–25.

With the result, Grambling moved to 7–18 overall and 5–9 in SWAC play, while Southern improved to 13–15 and 8–6 in the conference.

Junior outside hitters Kenya Lucas and Jazmine Binion each paced the offense with nine kills apiece, while Ra'Niya Brown followed closely with eight.

Setter Alayna Howard dished out 17 assists and added 13 digs, while Reece Cooktallied 16 assists of her own.

Defensively, Leisey Keli'i anchored the back row with a match-high 21 digs, and Avri Solik-Fifarek chipped in 13.

As a team, Grambling recorded 46 kills, 42 assists, and 62 digs, finishing with a .123 hitting percentage while holding Southern to .196.



HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1: Southern grabbed early momentum behind steady offensive play from Ariana Brown and Sophie Diouf. Despite strong defensive stops and timely kills from Jazmine Binion and Ra'Niya Brown, Grambling couldn't overcome Southern's late run, dropping the first set 25–17.

Set 2: The Lady Tigers found rhythm early, jumping ahead on kills from Avri Solik-Fifarek and Kenya Lucas to lead 7–2. Southern responded with several service aces and a string of points midway through the frame. Grambling kept the set close with efforts from Brown and Binion, but the Jaguars pulled away late for a 25–21 win.

Set 3: Grambling regrouped with resilience, taking control behind Lucas and Brown's efficient attacking. The Lady Tigers built an early cushion and held off a late Southern push, securing the set 26–24 to force a fourth.

Set 4: Southern opened strong and maintained control throughout the final frame. Despite key digs from Keli'i and a series of kills from Binion and Brown, Grambling couldn't slow down the Jaguars' attack, falling 25–18 to close the match.




UP NEXT
 Grambling State returns home on Friday, Nov. 14, to host Prairie View A&M University inside the Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center. First serve is set for 6 p.m.




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