Box Score
The Alabama State women's volleyball team lost at Florida Gulf Coast 3-0 (18-25, 15-25, 18-25) on day one of the Hilton Garden Inn/Homewood Suites Invitational Friday night at Alico Arena in Fort Myers, Florida. 

The Lady Hornets (4-11) bounced back with a much more efficient second set, notching a team hitting percentage of .348 during the middle stanza, but ran into a hot-hitting Eagles' team that hit .444 over the same set. 

Junior outside hitter Chelsey Scott led the Lady Hornets with seven kills and seven digs.  Senior setter Ellyn Jones had a team-best 16 assists and seven digs while Myla Marshall and Briana Dorsey added five kills apiece. 

In the first set, ASU tied it at nine with Erika Thompson behind the serve line.  After the teams were tied 10-10, the Eagles went on a 7-2 spurt keyed by three kills from redshirt senior Jessica Barnes. 

Dorsey, a freshman middle blocker, put down a kill on an assist from Jones to cut the lead to 17-13.  Junior Vanessa Benke answered with a kill for the Eagles.  The teams swapped errors over the next six points.  Rachel Smith got down a kill from sophomore Jamie Coleman to make it 22-17.  A Benke ace and a couple of errors sealed the first set for FGCU 25-18. 

In the second set, the Lady Hornets ran out to a 6-3 start on a kill by Tiara Kelley, an ace from Coleman, a kill from Marshall and a myriad of FGCU errors. 

The Eagles (5-5) took seven of the next eight points highlighted by a pair of Benke kills to take the lead. 

Marshall, the ASU junior from Memphis, Tenn., sprung up for a lightning-quick thump to cut the lead to 10-8.

Dorsey kept the Lady Hornets afloat with a pair of kills to stay within a three-point deficit.  But, an Olivia Mesner kill and two aces from Elenora Kazarian pushed FGCU ahead by six. 

Scott, Marshall, Amber Bennett and Dorsey each picked up a kill apiece down the stretch for ASU, but it wasn't enough as FGCU closed out the set 25-15. The teams played considerably better in the second set with each team soaring above the .340 hitting percentage mark. 

FGCU ran out to an 11-3 start in the third set.  The Lady Hornets took three straight points (two with Coleman serving) to get back within a five-point deficit.  Jones found Scott and Marshall each for kills to stay within striking distance. 

Marshall threw down another kill, Thompson picked up an ace and ASU won two more points to make it a 15-12 FGCU lead.  The Eagles went on to win the last set 25-18. 

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