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Alabama State University Athletics

Jones
David Campbell

Women's Volleyball

ASU Volleyball team finds flow in nightcap; tops Savannah St. in straight sets

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
Maybe there's something to playing at night for the Alabama State women's volleyball team. 

In the nightcap of the ISTAP Collegiate Cup 2 volleyball tournament, ASU look re-energized taking down Savannah State 25-13, 25-16, 26-24 at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome Thursday night.

The team is now 3-1 when matches start at 6 p.m. or later on local time. 

And it received individual single-game season highs from Chelsey Scott (14 kills), Ellyn Jones (36 assists) and Jamie Coleman (15 digs). 

Scott, Amber Bennett and Khryss Madison all fired up the team with some early spikes to help ASU spring out to a 5-1 advantage.  Bennett and Scott combined for a block, Scott threw down another kill and the Lady Hornets raced out to a 12-3 lead before Savannah State called for time. 

ASU (3-7) moved into a comfortable groove with Scott at the service line.  The team reeled off eight straight points with the junior from Enterprise, Ala. on the serve. 
  
Jones, a senior setter, begun to find her teammates with some sound setting as the match progressed finding Bennett several times, Lorena Rosario and Madison for some good smash shots. 

Jones set a season-high for assists with 36, smashing her previous total of 26 assists back on Aug. 29 in a five-set match against the Tennessee-Martin. 

The Lady Hornets closed out the set strong with fiery kills from Bennett and Scott to take the set 25-13.

The Tigers (2-7) came out better prepared in the second set and enjoyed an early 6-4 advantage with solid play from freshmen Elexius Harris, who picked up a service ace, and Zariya Thomas, who put down a kill. 

In stark contrast from their first match on the day, the Lady Hornets regrouped by getting a much better handle on their hitting percentage.  Through the opening sets, ASU had 22 kills against just 10 attack errors. 

The third set had more of a competitive back-and-forth pace with eight ties spanning over the set's first 22 points.  ASU recaptured the lead at 12-11 on Scott's 10th kill of the match.  Seven more ties. 

Bennett came up with a big spike to make it 24-23 ASU, but the Tigers' Gabrielle Nathaniel came back with a kill of her own to tie it at 24.  Scott's 14th kill came at a good time.  It not only set a new single-game high for her, but it also gave ASU match point.  Jones set up Bennett for the match's final point to secure the set 26-24. 

"I was clicking with my setter," Scott said.  "With great passes, comes great sets and then come great hits.  It's all about teamwork.  We really connected well tonight.  Communication is everything." 

Sophomore Jamie Coleman also set a new single-game high for digs with 15.  The Farmington Hills, Mich. Native previously had eight digs in both games against Murray State and South Carolina State. 

It took a while for the ASU women's volleyball team to find their flow against Southeast Missouri State in the opening match on Thursday morning.

But as the match unfolded, the Lady Hornets began to show signs of improvement before ultimately falling to the Redhawks 25-8, 25-16, 25-21. 

The third set was where ASU (2-7) showed the most fight, rallying back for eight consecutive points to grab a 12-9 advantage. 

And it was through all-around teamwork.  A kill by senior Ellyn Jones and a pair of assisted blocks from junior Amber Bennett, Jones and junior Khryss Madison pulled the Lady Hornets within 9-7. Another kill by Bennett and two kills by Riverside, Calif. native Rachel Smith surged ASU ahead. 

Back-to-back kills by reigning SWAC Offensive Player of the Week Myla Marshall made it 16-12 ASU.  But the Redhawks' Kelsey Keeve caught fire, rifling off three kills and an assist to pull SEMO within 18-17. 

Outside hitter Chelsey Scott put ASU back on top at 19-18.  ASU led for the last time in the set at 20-19 after a Redhawks' attack error.  The Lady Hornets shot themselves in the foot down the stretch by committing four attack errors and two service errors. 

Errors were the culprit for ASU throughout as it had 13 kills against 14 attack errors through the first two sets.  The team finished with 29 kills against 25 attack errors. 

In the first set, the Redhawks (2-6) ran out to a 4-0 lead on a pair of attack errors, a ball-handling error and a kill by Keeve.  The lead expanded to 11-2 on an Andrea Baylin kill.  ASU wasn't able to recover as it dropped the set 25-8. 

ASU briefly led the second set by a score of 3-2, but SEMO responded with five straight points to take a lead that they would not relinquish.  The Redhawks would take the set 25-16. The win snapped a six-match skid for SEMO. 

#gohornets#
 
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