HOUSTON – Bethune-Cookman erased a 1-0 deficit to collect its third consecutive Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) win Friday afternoon, as the Wildcats took down Texas Southern 3-1 inside Health & Physical Education Arena. B-CU grabbed the win on scores of 21-25, 25-15, 25-22, 28-26.
 
After dropping the opening set, Bethune-Cookman (9-11, 6-2 SWAC) bounced back with an emphatic 25-15 victory in set two in order to knot the match at 1-1.
 
With the set tied at 4-4, B-CU ran out to a 13-4 run on the back of six Texas Southern (5-15, 4-4 SWAC) attack errors. During the run, Ktyal Price and Nola Hemphill supplied blocks for the Wildcats, while junior Tiyanna Preston placed four kills. Price matched her teammate with four kills in the frame for the Maroon and Gold.
 
Defense was key for the Cats in the third set as libero Sydni Poston recorded eight digs alongside Elizabeth Phillips with six. B-CU led 15-14 before two Robinson kills were intertwined with a pair of Price/Robinson block combos with another Robinson service ace to push the Cats to a 21-15 edge. The Tigers amassed 48 attacks in the set with B-CU limiting Gracie Hill to just two (2) kills on 13 swings. The Cats would ride three assisted blocks from Price and another two from senior outside hitter Jasmine Robinson to earn the 25-22 win.
 
In the decisive fourth set, the Wildcats used 15 kills on 51 attacks behind three kills each from Niara Hightower, Phillips, Preston and Robinson, respectively.
 
The Cats trailed 19-17 following a Lauren Battle kill for the Tigers. Another Price/Robinson block combo was followed by Ariel "AJ" Simmons chipping in with Price for a block in order to knot the set at 20-all. B-CU took a 22-21 lead when Phillips laced a kill off the Tigers' block at the net, but the lead was immediately wiped out with a Kourtni Collier kill and an attack error charged to B-CU, allowing Texas Southern the 23-22 edge.
 
TSU once again served for set point at 26-25 with Hill serving, but a Preston kill – one of her eight on the day, tied the set for the 12th time. The next two points would go to the Wildcats as a Hemphill service ace closed it out at 28-26.
 
Texas Southern was led by Hill with 14 kills and eight digs. Ava Ray had 9 assists while libero Angelika Rusin reeled in a match-high 34 digs.
 
Bethune-Cookman leaned on the play of Robinson (12 kills) and Phillips (11 kills). Robinson added 10 digs for a double-double, while Phillips matched her with a team-high 22 digs for her own double-double effort. The assists were provided by Alisha Callender with a match-high 29 assists and 16 digs for the team's third double-double in the match. Poston added 16 digs of her own from the libero position.
 
The Cats conclude the Texas road swing when visiting Prairie View A&M for a SWAC contest on Sunday, Oct. 20, inside William Nicks Building on the PVAMU campus at 3 p.m. ET.