Box Score 1 | Box Score 2


BATON ROUGE, La.—Chelsey Scott had 21 kills, Myla Marshall added 19 and Amber Bennett 18 in leading Alabama State (3-18) to consecutive wins on the first day of the Southern Invitational Volleyball Tournament.  ASU beat both Grambling State (0-12) and Prairie View A&M (6-16).
 
ASU had their best game of the season in the 3-0 win over Grambling to open their play at the Southern Invite.  Bennett had a team and career-high 10 kills in the win.  Marshall and Scott had eight kills each and the Lady Hornets had a season-best .358 hitting percentage.
 
Brooke Beasley had 32 assists and Anniiya Robinson had six digs.  Beasley and Marshall had two block assists which was the game-high.
 
In the first set against Grambling, the Lady Hornets started the day off strong as Marshall, Scott and Bennett each had three kills and ASU hit .241 in the 25-13 win.
 
The second set was much closer as the two teams were even at eight before ASU put together a run that saw them build the lead to 21-13.  Grambling would not go away as they fought back and got as close as 23-20 and 24-21, but ASU would win the set on a Grambling service error to go up 2-0 in the game.
 
Scott and Bennett continued to lead ASU as both players had three kills in the second set and ASU hit .409.
 
The third set was all ASU in the 25-12 win.  Bennett finished her strong outing with four more kills and the Lady Hornets hit .433 in the third and deciding set.
 
The second game saw the Lady Hornets finish the sweep with a 25-17, 25-21 and 25-21 victory over PVAMU.  The first set was pretty much all Lady Hornets as ASU led from start to finish led by Scott's seven kills.  ASU finished the set with a .593 hitting percentage.
 
The second set was a little closer as the teams battled through nine ties and 13 lead changes.  The last time the two teams were even was at 17 and from that point on ASU outscored PVAMU 8-4 to finish out the game.  Scott had five kills and Marshall three in the win.
 
The third set was a wild one that saw 14 ties and 18 lead changes throughout the set.  ASU was able to break through with the score even at 19 and go up 23-19.  PVAMU was able to cut the lead to 24-21 before Khryssnee Madison and Marshall combined to block PVAMU's final attack to end the set and game.
 
Scott had 13 kills in the game and Marshall finished with 11.  As a team, the Lady Hornets hit .327.  It was the first time this season the Lady Hornets had hit over .300 as a team in back to back games, and it was the fifth consecutive game ASU had hit over .230.
 
Beasley had 36 assists in the outing which was her career and team-high in assists in a three-set game.  She had 68 assists in the two games and Marshall finished with a team-high 2.5 blocks during the two games.
 
The Lady Hornets are guaranteed a semifinal game at either 10 a.m. or noon tomorrow.  That time will not be determined until the final two games of today's action have been played.
 
“This was a two-game stretch where I feel we have played the best and most consistent all season,” Head Coach Penny Lucas-White said.  We ran our offensive plays and had a very strong hitting percentage and all of our outside and middle hitters hit the ball extremely well.”
 
“I also saw our team fall behind in the second game to a very good Prairie View team and we were able to come back and battle them before pulling away at the end to win the game.  We are getting closer and closer and I still believe we can compete for a SWAC Championship this season.”