Alabama State University (13-18/4-2 SWAC) honored four seniors in a pre-match ceremony before going on to defeat Alcorn State University (2-25/0-7 SWAC) 3-0 in Southwestern Athletic Conference volleyball action.
Seniors Tiffany Dillard (Birmingham, Ala.), Roselande Corneille (Dacula, Ga.), Asia Manning (Raytown, Mo.) and Ana Pego (Horizone, Brazil) were making their final home appearance for the Black and Gold and were able to close their home careers with a 25-17, 25-12, 25-11 victory in front of their family members and friends.
“I truly believe if you love on the kids they will give you everything they have and I think that showed tonight,” head coach Penny Lucas-White said. “It was a special night for the kids and I think it showed.”
ASU was clicking on all cylinders in the victory led by Maya Bell's 13 kills and Pego's 34 assists. The Lady Hornets had a .388 hitting percentage to go along with five blocks and 51 digs, led by Luiza Griz's match-high 18.
“They are starting to come into their own right now,” Lucas-White said. “I can see it in practice, I can see it in their eyes and I think they are beginning to understand what it takes to play like a champion.”
The first set of the match was a glance into how the evening would turn out as the Lady Hornets scored first and would turn a close set into a victory by pulling away with a big run. ASU scored the first two points on serves from Pego and the home team never trailed as ASU went on to take the 25-17 win.
The game stayed close as the two teams went back and forth until Asia Manning took over the serve with ASU holding a 15-12 lead. ASU was able to score the next seven points off Manning's serves (23-12) en route to the eight-point win.
Bell had seven kills in the set and Roselande had four while Pego had 12 assists.
The second set was back and forth until Manning again took over on serves with ASU holding a slim 5-4 lead. By the time Alcorn was able to win the serve back, ASU had gone on an 8-0 run to lead 13-4.
The set never got any closer than six points (16-10) as ASU closed out the 25-12 win on a kill from Manning.
Erika Thompson led ASU with five kills in set two with Corneille and Bell chipping in with three each. Pego contributed 13 assists and Griz had eight digs.
The third set saw ASU jump out to a 4-0 lead as Pego started the set with the serve. From there the Lady Hornets went on to push the lead out to 16-4 before settling in for the 25-11 win.
ASU hit .500 in the set with all eight players on the team recording at least one kill. In the third set, ASU had 12 kills compared to only two errors on 20 attempts.
Alcorn State struggled from the first set on through the final set and finished the night with a -.024 hitting percentage. The Braves had 15 kills, but had 17 errors in 85 attempts.
Tonight's victory was the teams' sixth in their last eight matches. ASU will end the 2011 regular season on the road starting with a match at Jackson State on Nov. 4 and the final match at Alabama A&M on Nov. 10, and then head to the SWAC Tournament which is being held Nov. 18-20 in Westwego, La.
“I think we are starting to peak at the right time and it is all about peaking,” Lucas-White added. “We are thinking faster, playing faster and reacting faster and I expect us to keep playing that way all the way through the tournament.”
-HORNETS-
