JACKSON, Miss. | Ni'yesha Brown, the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Player of the Year, led three players in double figure kills as Alabama State defeated Jackson State 3-1 (25-15,25-10,26-28,25-10) in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament Friday morning.
 
Alabama State (26-10) advances to the semifinals, where they will face either fourth-seeded Arkansas-Pine Bluff or fifth-seeded Grambling State Saturday.
 
The Lady Hornets extended their conference streak to 40 consecutive matches with the win, with their last loss coming at the hands of Jackson State in the 2015 SWAC championship match. The Lady Hornets have one of the top winning streaks in the country in NCAA Division I volleyball history – 14 short of the top 20 all-time.
 
Brown posted a team-high 17 kills with just two errors on 30 total attempts, finishing the day hitting a match-high .500. Bayle' Bennett finished with 15 kills and nine digs, while Candace Martin finished with 11 kills and five blocks.
 
Kori Kutsch – the SWAC Setter of the Year - recorded her ninth double-double of the season with 24 assists and 13 digs, while Justus Tuiolosega finished with 22 assists. Asha Daniels added 13 digs in the victory.
 
After winning the first two sets, the Lady Hornets struggled in the third set and had their chances to put the match away after trailing by as many four late in the set. The Lady Hornets battled through three set points, to force the set into four deuces before Jackson State was able to win the set. However, the Lady Hornets scored early and often in the fourth and final set as they jumped out to a 14-3 lead in the final set. The lead would grow to 12 (22-10) on an attack error by Jackson State, and would continue to grow as the Lady Hornets closed the set on a 6-0 run to claim the match.
 
Alabama State finished the match hitting .333 with 58 kills, while holding Jackson State to just a .022 attack percentage and 34 kills. The Lady Hornets recorded 24 total blocks in the victory, with five players recording at least one and led by Briana Dorsey with seven.
 
The semifinal match begins at 1 pm inside the Williams Assembly Center on the campus of Jackson State University.
 
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