Box Score: ASU vs. Valpo
Box. Score: ASU vs. UCF
Alabama State's volleyball team dropped two matches on the second day of the UCF Invitational falling to Valparaiso 3-0 (16-25, 18-25, 22-25) and Central Florida 3-0 (19-25, 15-25, 13-25).
"We lost to two very seasoned and good teams today," Head Coach
Penny Lucas-White said. "I am extremely proud of how the girls made adjustments during both matches and the scores don't tell the whole story of how well we played. The rallies were very long and if we could have cut out some of our unforced errors we would have been even closer in the scores."
Sophomore
Amber Bennett again had a solid day finishing with 18 kills during the two matches.
Rachel Smith was solid as well collecting five kills in each match and 16 digs over the course of the day. Bennett was named to the All Tournament following the final match.
"Amber just had an unbelievable weekend," Lucas-White said. "She really played well on offense and her defense was outstanding. She had multiple blocks and was a force."
Lucas-White added, "Rachel just played solid all day. She hit the ball well and did a good job on defense as well. It was nice to see her playing so well."
Brooke Beasley also had a strong weekend and finished the day with 24 assists, five kills and 11 digs, and fellow setter
Ellyn Jones had 25 assists.
"Our setters were very fluid and they were very effective running the offense," Lucas-White said. "With the way Ellyn has been playing it is opening Brooke up and she is doing it all; hitting and setting."
Hitting errors plagued the Lady Hornets in both matches as they could only muster a .167 hitting percentage in both games. The 36 hitting errors hurt the team's chances on the final day of competition, but that could not damper the enthusiasm of the coaching staff.
"Overall I am extremely pleased with how we performed and how the girls adjusted to their competition," Lucas-White said. "We played some solid volleyball this weekend against some very good teams and I think the future is extremely bright."
ASU (1-3) will be back in tournament action Sept. 6-7 in Greensboro, N.C. They will play in the UNCG/NCA&T Invitational. The teams involved along with ASU are Murray State and dual-hosts, North Carolina-Greensboro and North Carolina A&T.
