Jackson, Miss. - Alabama State fought hard to force a fifth set against Jackson State but ultimately fell short, 3-2 (16-25, 25-17, 19-25, 25-19, 14-16) in Southwestern Athletic Conference volleyball action on Sunday evening.

The Lady Hornets (6-17, 3-5 SWAC) struggled offensively in the odd-numbered sets which allowed the Tigers (10-13, 6-1 SWAC) to hold on for the hard-fought conference win. 

Senior Bayle' Bennett paced the offense with her 11th double double of the season in a team-high 13 kills and 19 digs alongside two solo blocks and a service ace. Junior E'laisah Young followed behind with 12 kills on a .474 hitting percentage. Young added a game- and career-high tying three service aces, five digs and a game-high tying three solo blocks. 

Senior Krysta Medearis and junior Taira Cottingham joined the two with double-digit kills with 11 apiece. Defensively freshman Emersen Belles was on a tear as she recorded a game- and career-high 34 digs alongside a career-high five assists and a game- and career-high tying three service aces. Additionally, Belles received 31 serves and only committed one error.  

Set One (Alabama State 16, Jackson State 25)
Alabama State was unable to get into any offensive rhythm as the team hit .050 with eight errors. Jackson State gained momentum early in the set that seemed to be the difference as the Lady Tigers recorded 12 kills with a .265 hitting percentage. Defensively, Jackson State slowed down any offensive hopes for Alabama State as the Lady Tigers tallied 19 digs and a block in the set.

Set Two (Alabama State 25, Jackson State 17)
Set two was polar opposite of set one for the Lady Hornets as they led wire-to-wire with hitting a blistering .500 percentage with 15 kills and only two errors. Alabama State also locked up on defense as it posted 14 digs with three blocks. Young went a perfect 6-for-6 on attacks with two service aces while Bennett had four kills on a .429 hitting percentage. 

Set Three (Alabama State 19, Jackson State 25)
The third set began with a back-and-forth battle that saw three ties and three lead changes before either team reached four points. With a slight 9-8 lead, Jackson State used an 8-1 run that gave the team enough cushion to close out and secure the third set. Alabama State slowed down offensively as the set went on, hitting .094 with just 10 kills. 

Set Four (Alabama State 25, Jackson State 19)
Coming off of a rough set, Alabama State took its frustration and used it well as the team hit .384 and recorded 16 kills to battle back and force a fifth set. The defense proved to be the difference maker in the set as the Lady Hornets tallied 24 digs in the set and two team blocks while Jackson State could only secure 15 digs. Belles nearly recorded half of the team's digs with 11. Cottingham posted five kills with both junior Maya Jones and Young adding three apiece. 

Set Five (Alabama State 14, Jackson State 16)
The final set was a fight from beginning to end as neither team made it easy to score. Trailing early 3-2, Alabama State went on a 4-0 run to force Jackson State to call a timeout. The Lady Hornets eventually took an 8-5 lead at the switch. The Lady Tigers used multiple runs to take a 14-12 lead but Alabama State fought hard and evened the score at 14 off of back-to-back kills from Bennett. Jackson State held on by forcing an attacking error then getting a kill to seal the deal. 

Up Next
Alabama State hits the road to face in-state conference foe Alabama A&M on Friday at 7 p.m. in Huntsville, Ala. 

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