JACKSON, Miss.—Alabama State moves to the second day of the Southwestern Athletic Conference Volleyball Tournament by winning two of their three games on the opening day of the tournament.
ASU (9-26) moved to the final day of the tournament when they defeated Texas Southern 3-0 (25-12, 25-22, 25-15) in the last game of the day. It was the second time the two teams had met on the opening day and it was the second time the Lady Hornets had pulled out a win.
ASU hit .329 in the game and
Rachel Smith capped a solid day with a game-high 11 kills while hitting a strong .391. Anniiya Robinson had seven kills and
Latoya Ellington and
Khryssnee Madison added six each.
ASU held TSU to a .150 hitting percentage and added 36 digs and four total blocks. Madison and
Amber Bennett had two blocks each and Griz had 16 digs.
“I was extremely proud of how the girls came out and played their third game of the day,” Head Coach
Penny Lucas-White said. “It is not easy to arrive to the gym at 7 a.m. and then be playing a third game 12 hours later. After they lost a tough game to JSU they were able to stay focused and get the win. You could tell their legs were very heavy in the third game, but they did a great job of fighting through it.”
After ASU had won their first game of the day, their bonus was to face the hottest team in the conference in Jackson State. The Lady Hornets fought hard but fell 3-1 (20-25, 25-13, 15-25, 16-25).
Smith led the Hornets with 15 kills while hitting a game-high .464. ASU hit .202 as a team and held JSU to a .200 hitting percentage, but it was the 42 errors the Lady Hornets made that was the difference.
ASU had 13 blocks in the game with Madison leading the way with five total blocks and
Amber Bennett adding four.
“We played a hot JSU team that came out and played well,” Lucas-White said. “We got in a groove and took the second set, but they responded like the champions they are and took the third and fourth set to win the game. We played really good defense against them holding their hitting percentage to what we did and the 13 blocks against them is remarkable. But we made way too many unforced hitting errors and that opened the door for them and they took advantage of it.”
ASU advanced to the second round winner's bracket with their 3-2 (19-25, 28-26, 27-25, 19-25, 15-8) win over Texas Southern to open the SWAC Tournament. It was the first five-set win of the season for Alabama State who was winless in three previous five-set games.
Chelsey Scott and Smith led the ASU offense with 18 kills each. Robinson added 11 kills as the Lady Hornets hit .246 as a team.
Brooke Beasley had 51 assists and
Luiza Griz added 22 digs.
The Hornets had 11 blocks with
Myla Marshall and Bennett both adding four total blocks each.
”Anytime you can start a tournament with a win it is big for your team,” Lucas-White added. “The game was two teams battling back and forth and fortunately we got out to a quick start in the fifth set and we were able to finish the game.”
Alabama State will face home standing Jackson State in tomorrow's semifinal round, but to move on to the championship, the Lady Hornets will have to defeat JSU twice. The game is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.
“I am glad to be playing on the final day of the tournament and once again we will face Jackson State,” Lucas-White added. “We will need to get some good rest tonight and work at getting an early jump on JSU, but we know with them playing at home it will be a tough task for us.”
