MONTGOMERY, Ala. | Fresh off of winning two of their matches at home this past weekend, the Alabama State University volleyball team hits the road Friday to play in the Tulane Invitational. The Lady Hornets will face North Florida on Friday, before facing Tulane and Northwestern State on Saturday in New Orleans.
Alabama State (4-6) ended a five-match losing streak with wins over Western Carolina and Jacksonville this past Saturday led by a pair of SWAC Player of the Week winners in
Ni'yesha Brown and
Asha Daniels. Brown led the Lady Hornets with 65 kills last week (earning Offensive Player of the Week honors) and Daniels posted 60 digs (earning Defensive Player of the Week honors). The Lady Hornets recorded four double-doubles over the weekend, with a pair coming from
Kori Kutsch. The other two belonged to Brown and Tuiolosega. For the season, Brown leads the Lady Hornets with 118 total kills, while
Briana Dorsey has added 95 and
Krysta Medearis 70. Kutsch leads the team in assists with 213, while Tuiolosega has added 150 through 10 matches. Daniels leads the team in digs with 98, while Brown has 77 and Kutsch 72. As a team, Alabama State has recorded 78 total blocks with Dorsey leading the way with 42 and
Payten Clark 33 for the Lady Hornets.
North Florida enters the weekend 5-5 on the year through the first 10 matches, having last played in Atlanta and facing Xavier on September 8. Carina Hoff leads the Ospreys offensively with 81 kills, while Taryn Griffey has added 63. Katarina Raicevic has added 47, Devyn Wheeler 46 and Alana Shoff 40 for North Florida. Madilyn McCarthy leads North Florida with 193 assists, averaging 7.15 assists per match this season. Defensively, 12 of 13 players on the roster are in double digits in digs, led by Ashley Laborde - the reigning A-Sun Defensive Player of the Week - with 96. Alana Shoff leads the way for North Florida with 43 total blocks through 10 matches.
Tulane enters the weekend 8-2 and hosting the tournament, coming in with wins over Mississippi State and Oklahoma (last season) and have won eight of their last nine matches since opening the season with a loss. Lexie Douglas leads Tulane with 95 kills through 10 matches, averaging 2.64 kills per set. Dayna Kern and Hannah Shaw have each recorded 83 kills on the season, while Alexis Silver has 80. Tulane has a pair of players over 150 assists on the season, led by Justine Bowers at 212 assists and averaging 5.89 assists per set. Jenna Ibieta joins her at 187 assists, averaging 5.19 assists per set. Kaylie McHugh leads Tulane with 177 total digs on the season, averaging 4.92 digs per set; while Kern has recorded 36 total blocks on the year for the Green Wave.
Northwestern State enters the weekend 3-7 on the season, and have dropped their last three matches. Reagan Rogers leads Northwestern State with 103 kills, while Alexis Warren has added 78 and Kourtney Seaton 76 through 10 matches. Kathryn Wristen has recorded 295 assists to lead Northwestern State, averaging 8.43 assists per set so far in 2017. Seven players are in double figures in digs for Northwestern State, but Channing Burleson leads the way with 147 total digs, 4.08 per set. Madeline Drake leads the team in total blocks with 30, while Seaton has added 21.
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