BIRMINGHAM, AL – The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff women's volleyball team completed the upset of the SWAC tournament with a 3-2 (24-26, 25-21, 25-23, 22-25, 15-10) victory over the Prairie View A&M Panthers Saturday night at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
SWAC Player of the Year Zyonn Smith led the Lady Lions with 16 kills followed by junior Kaila Robinson's 12 kills. Sophomore Nyah Ellis dominated with 24 digs followed by Smith's 19 and Robinson right behind with 18 digs. Sophomore Elyssa Kennedy played selfless tonight leading the team with an impressive 28 assists followed by second-team All-SWAC Nikole Akamine with 20 assists. SWAC Blocker of the Year Haley Gomez dominated in the match with an outstanding nine blocks followed by junior Kori Diego with three blocks.
In the first set, the Lady Lions played with lots of great energy. A quick 4-0 run to begin the match was led by Gomez and Ellis to get an early momentum going for the Lady Lions. Diego stepped up big for the Lady Lions playing big on both the offensive and defensive sides for UAPB. The first set came down the wire tied at 24, but errors for UAPB would give the Lady Panthers two points to take the first set over the Lady Lions 24-26.
The Lady Lions kept their heads on straight in the second set going back and forth with Prairie View A&M to begin the second set. Energy from Robinson would rub off on the team causing them to extend their lead to 18-11. A Diego kill would bring the Lady Lions one point away from winning the second set which was followed by a PVAMU error clinching the second set victory of 25-21 and tying the match 1-1.
The third set would be a recycle of energy from the second set with major plays from SWAC Player of the Year Zyonn Smith and SWAC Blocker of the Year Haley Gomez to keep the great energy going for the Lady Lions. An unstoppable front row of Gomez and Williams held Prairie View A&M down to secure the third set victory with a score of 25-23 and bringing the match score 2-1.
Looking to seal the win, the Lady Lions gave it all they had in the fourth set against the Lady Panthers. Midway in the fourth set, three points had been taken away from the Lady Lions due to complications with officials and substitutes bringing the score from 15-16 to 12-16 but that would not stop the Lady Lions from fighting their way back to bring the score to 18-19 with aces from Akamine and Gomez but errors from the Lady Lions caused the Lady Panthers to take the fourth set 22-25, tying things up 2-2.
A strong fifth set start from Diego, Williams, Smith, and Robinson gave the Lady Lions a momentum advantage with an impressive 7-3 start. Aces from Akamine and Ellis continued to bring the Cinderella story together for the Lady Lions and sealing the victory was Smith ending the fifth set 15-10, sealing the 3-2 victory over Prairie View A&M and punching their ticket to the SWAC Championship game.
"These group of ladies deserve it, their passion towards one another is what gives us big wins like this", said UAPB head coach Chelsey Lucas about the semifinal victory over Prairie View A&M.
The Lady Lions will take on the number-one seeded Jackson State in the championship tomorrow at 3 p.m. at the Birmingham CrossPlex. The game can be viewed live on the SWAC Digital Network YouTube channel.
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