BATON ROUGE, La. -

The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Lady Lions volleyball team produced its first Southwestern Athletic Conference victory of the season with a sweep over Mississippi Valley State University (25-20, 25-21, 25-16) during the recent SWAC round-up. Sophomore Katilyn Hapke tied a team-high with nine kills while teammate freshman Haley Gomez also produced nine kills in the win. Junior Britney Sahlmann finished the game with a game-high 27 assists.

"We showed some areas of inconsistency that we have to keep improving upon, but I was happy to see us grow together as a team," said Lady Lions Head Coach Dustin Sahlmann. "I am hoping that will lead to good things down the road."

Freshmen Charis Adefolarim and Charm Henderson both generated six kills apiece while fellow Lady Lion Cheyenne Odgers was all over the place defensively, picking up a team-high 16 digs.

On the defensive end, Adefolarim and Sahlmann finished with one solo block each while Kaylyn Brown chipped in with two block assists. Gomez added three block assists in the first SWAC victory of the season for the Lady Lions.


courtesy of www.swac.org

Behind a 16-kill effort from Alondra Rivera Modesto, Alcorn State upended Arkansas-Pine Bluff in straight sets to begin conference play. The win snapped a 31-game slide in league play, which was the second-longest active streak in the country.

The Lady Braves outhit UAPB .337-.185, highlighted by a blistering .593 clip during a 25-12 Alcorn romp in set one.

Fiapaipai Iosia collected a team-best 11 digs and served up seven aces, as the Lady Braves delivered 12 service aces compared to the Lady Lions' three. Mae Lewis and Sydney Joseph each put away 10 kills for the Lady Braves. Haley Gomez led UAPB with 10 kills, and Britney Salhmann put up 19 assists and four digs.

UAPB (4-12, 2-3 SWAC) returns to action on Thursday, October 4 as it hosts Southern University in its first SWAC home game of the year. First serve is set for 6:30 p.m. at the Pine Bluff Convention Center. The Lady Lions will play at the Convention Center until UAPB finishes renovations at H.O. Clemmons Arena.