Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
On the road facing the No. 23 nationally-ranked women's volleyball team in Division I, Alabama State University hung tough with the University of Arizona before falling 25-19, 25-9, 25-8 at the McKale Center in Tucson on Friday to open play in the University of Arizona Tournament. 

The Lady Hornets made a threatening bid to snatch away the first set from the Wildcats (4-0) with contributions from several different ASU players.   At one point during the set, seven ASU players came up with at least a kill. 

Junior outside hitter Rachel Smith (Riverside, Calif. / Martin Luther King Jr. HS) led with five kills while juniors Amber Bennett (Baton Rouge, La. / McKinley HS) and Lorena Rosario (Dominican Republic / Colby CC) had four kills apiece.

ASU (2-4) exchanged points with the Pac-12 representatives for the majority of the first set with the Lady Hornets collecting 10 kills on 39 total attacks while the Lady Wildcats were able to make good 14 times on 43 total attacks. 

Senior setter Brooke Beasley (Winfield, Ala. / Wallace St. Hanceville CC) played some of her better volleyball in the first set as well by notching all five of her digs in the set and finishing with nine assists for the match.  Senior Erika Thompson (Toledo, Ohio / Springfield HS) had a team-high 12 digs and senior Ellyn Jones (Columbus, Ind.  / IUPUI) chipped in with seven assists. 

In the nightcap, Alabama State fought gamely, but eventually lost to Cal State Northridge of the Big West Conference by scores of 25-17, 25-15, 25-14. 

Junior right side Tiara Kelley (Amarillo, Texas / Vernon College) had a season-high and team-best eight kills.  Myla Marshall (Memphis, Tenn. / Houston HS) had six kills, four blocks and three digs.  Marshall now has at least three blocks in five of six games thus far this season.  Chelsey Scott (Enterprise, Ala. / Enterprise HS) had five kills, Jones added a team-high 23 assists and two aces, and Thompson topped her season high in digs with 13. 

On Saturday, ASU will conclude their trip to Arizona with a match against Loyola-Chicago of the Missouri Valley Conference on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.  ASU is traveling to the state of Arizona for the second consecutive season after playing in Phoenix in 2013 for the Arizona State Tournament. 

"We know what we are up against and our girls are excited to meet the challenge," said fourth-year ASU coach Penny Lucas-White.  "In order for us to reach our goals, we want to compete like a D-I program.  It helped us out a lot last year and it's going to help us again this season."

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