JACKSON, Miss. | Alabama State returns to Jackson this weekend to defend their conference championship from a season as the top seed in the year's Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) championship tournament, opening play up against eighth-seeded and host Jackson State Friday morning.
 
Alabama State (25-10) finished undefeated in conference play for the second consecutive year, and has its conference winning streak to 39 consecutive matches with the last loss coming to Jackson State in the 2015 conference championship match. The Lady Hornets enter the weekend looking for their third title in four years.
 
The Lady Hornets and Jackson State met twice during the regular season, with Alabama State winning both contests, including winning 3-0 in their last meeting just one week ago. The Lady Hornets also won the match in Jackson, 3-1, after dropping the first set.
 
Alabama State is led by SWAC Player of the Year Ni'yesha Brown, who led the conference – and is ranked among the best in the NCAA – with 472 kills (3.20 kills per set). She led the conference in service aces and was 27th in that same category in NCAA Division I, while also ranked in the top 35 in total points (472.5) and total attacks (1,169). She recorded 20 double-digit kill efforts this season, with 20 or more three times.
 
She will be joined on the attack by All-SWAC performers Bayle' Bennett and Briana Dorsey. Dorsey, a first team selection, led the conference in hitting at .404 and recorded 313 kills with just 67 errors. She has recorded 842 kills and 357 blocks for her career, and has over 1,000 career points for the Lady Hornets. Meanwhile, Bennett, a second team selection, is third on the team in kills behind Brown and Dorsey with 283. She also recorded 273 digs and blocked 46 shots.
 
The trio will receive passes from a pair of setters including SWAC Setter of the Year Kori Kutsch, who has recorded 778 assists on the season. That was the third highest total in the conference and she was fourth in assists per set (6.08); while also recorded 240 digs.
 
The Lady Hornets have recorded 1,595 kills this season – over 200 more than their opponents – and have held their opponents to a .155 hitting percentage this season.
 
The match begins at 11 am at the Lee Williams Assembly Center. The championship tournament runs through Sunday, with the winner earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
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