Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
The Alabama State women's volleyball team wrapped up day two of the Hilton Garden Inn/Homewood Suites Invitational with a 3-0 defeat (25-9, 25-19, 25-14) against Missouri-Kansas City at Alico Arena in Fort Myers, Florida on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Roos (11-3) came out on fire by taking the first set behind a .414 team hitting percentage. 

In the second set, the Lady Hornets took the opening two points on kills by Briana Dorsey and Myla Marshall on feeds from Ellyn Jones and Rachel Smith.  The Roos reclaimed the lead by taking the next six points keyed by the serving of Jessica Hendin, who picked up two aces during the span. 

But, for the third consecutive match, the Lady Hornets showed much more fight after the opening set.  Tamara Martin collected back-to-back kills on assists from Brooke Beasley to get ASU within 11-8.  Lorena Rosario and Marshall each came up with a kill apiece and a MKC service error got ASU as close as 14-13. 

The Roos took the following four points to expand the lead to a five-point margin.  Beasley served up an ace and Martin got into the act once again with another kill at 20-16. 
Martin wasn't finished either.  The 6-foot-1 freshman from Desoto, Texas, had two additional kills to close out with a team-high five kills in the set. 

In the third set, MKC got the early jump by racing out to a 5-0 start.  Scott got ASU on the board with a fiery kill.  Alabama State fell behind 10-2 and then won five of six points to get it back within a four-point margin.  During the spurt, Scott got a kill and Rosario picked up two more. 

An Amber Bennett kill and an attack error by MKC made it a 12-9 Roos' advantage, but MKC would win the next six points to pull ahead.  Scott, Rosario and Marshall strung together three straight kills, but the Roos went on to close 25-14.

Leaders for ASU were Jones (12 assists, four digs), Beasley (10 assists, seven digs) and four players with five kills apiece (Marshall, T. Martin, Rosario and Scott).
 
ASU (4-13) opened the day with a Saturday morning match and ran up against a mistake-conscious Florida Atlantic University squad that committed just 10 attack errors as the Owls topped the Lady Hornets 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-15).

Just as it was in Friday night's match against Florida Gulf Coast, Alabama State played their best ball in the middle set, swinging for a .290 team hitting percentage. 
Leaders for ASU included Beasley (13 assists, nine digs), Jones (14 assists, six digs), Smith (eight kills, four digs) and Bennett (six kills on a .417 hitting percentage, two blocks).  Scott had seven kills and Erika Thompson had a team-high with 13 digs. 

In the first set, ASU tugged for the lead and battled FAU to eight ties and four lead changes.  But, FAU was able to close when the set was tight by taking six of the last eight points to finish out with a 25-18 win. 

In the second set, the Lady Hornets showed improvement offensively with 14 kills against five attack errors on 31 total attacks.  However, the Owls (9-5) were on point, hitting .406 as a team in the set. 

Smith picked up a kill that FAU deflected backwards near the seats to tie it 2-2. 

Bennett threw down a spike along the far side of the court to cut the FAU lead to 9-7.  FAU made good on four of the following five points to push the lead to 13-8.  Smith laid down a kill toward the back row of FAU players that went untouched to make it 15-11.   Dorsey connected for a spike to keep ASU within reach of the lead. 

Down the stretch, Bennett and Smith combined for a block and Kelley came over to the right side of the net for a tipped point.  Smith played a strong set to tally four kills (.375 hitting percentage) with a block.  FAU won the set 25-19.

In the third set, Marshall and Bennett combined for a block to knot a tie at five.  Jones set up Smith for a smash in open space to cut the deficit to 9-7.

Scott rose for a kill to make it a 15-9 FAU lead.  But ASU could get no closer, dropping the third set 25-15. 

Top players for the Owls were Ivana Bulajic (14 kills), Genesis Viera (33 assists) and Liene Mellupe (eight kills, eight digs). 

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