The Alabama State volleyball team will travel to Thibodaux, La., Sept 9-10 to compete in the Colonel Classic. The Lady Hornets will play South Alabama on Friday at 12:30 p.m., and on Saturday, ASU will face Southern at 10:00 a.m. and host team Nicholls State at 5:30 p.m.
“This will be another tournament that we can use to get ready for our upcoming Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) matches,” quoted Coach Penny Lucas-White. “The more we play the better we are getting, we are finding our strengths and breaking our bad habits. If we continue to play with this momentum we should be okay the rest of the season.”
The Lady Hornets will enter this weekend's tournament with a 2-7 overall record, after defeating Stillman College 3-0 on Wednesday. Freshman Maya Bell leads ASU with 117 kills, a 3.90 kills per game average. The outside hitter also leads the team in aces with 26. Asia Manning has recorded 61 kills with 55 digs, while Roselande Corneille has 40 kills and 68 digs. Freshman Erika Thompson has posted 40 kills with a team-best nine blocks, and Ana Pego has handed out a team high of 247 assists.
South Alabama is 2-4 entering this weekend's contest posting wins over Southeastern Louisiana and Alabama A&M. The Jaguars are led by Asmia Salomao with 62 kills and a 2.95 kills per game average. Maureen Ros has a team-best .209 hitting percentage, while Melissa Waelter has 53 kills and leads the team with 11 service aces. The last time the two teams met was during the 2010 season, as the Lady Hornets were defeated 3-0 at the South Alabama Tournament.
Southern enters the weekend with a 0-5 overall record, having lost to Southeastern Louisiana 3-0 on Tuesday. Alabama State leads the series over SU 6-4. The last time the teams met was during the 2010 SWAC Championship Tournament and ASU posted a 3-2 rally victory over them. This will be the first SWAC team that the Lady Hornets will face for the 2011 season.
Nicholls State enters this weekend's tournament with a 3-3 record, with wins over three SWAC teams (Southern, Miss. Valley and Texas Southern). Rachel Yezak leads the Colonels with 40 kill at 2.22 kills per game average. Jennifer Brandt had 37 kills and six service aces; Jessica Addicks is hitting a .302 percentage with 36 kills. Jasmine Harris has a team-best 19 blocks (2 solo) and has posted 35 kills. Jordan Karst has recorded 69 assist with 4.93 assists per match average. Jeanne Logarbo leads the team in digs with 37 averaging 2.18. This will be the first meeting between ASU and Nicholls
