Montgomery, Ala. – Alabama State volleyball heads back to Illinois for its second consecutive weekend to compete in the Saluki Invitational hosted by Southern Illinois on Friday and Saturday.
 
The Lady Hornets (3-4) will play Memphis (10 a.m.) and IUPUI (5 p.m.) on Friday and will wrap up action at the Invitational with an 1:30 p.m. match against Southern Illinois on Saturday.
 
Alabama State is coming off a tough weekend at the Windy City Collegiate Volleyball Invitational hosted by Chicago State from Sept. 6-7. The Lady Hornets dropped all three matches against Western Carolina (0-3), Chicago State (0-3) and Cal State Fullerton (0-3).
 
The last match of the Invitational was against Cal State Fullerton where the Lady Hornets struggled wire-to-wire posting a .052 hitting percentage and only securing 29 kills while the Titans racked up 44 kills and were named the Windy City Collegiate Volleyball Champions after a perfect 3-0 weekend.
 
In the game, senior Bayle' Bennett posted a double double with a team-high 14 kills and 11 digs. Freshman Emersen Belles and junior Alex Wiggins joined Bennett in double digit digs with 11 and 10, respectively.
 
On the season, Bennett leads the team with 79 kills, averaging 3.43 per set alongside eight service aces. Defensively, Bennett has 53 digs, second-highest on the team and 11 blocks. Junior E'laisah Young is an all-around threat with 39 kills (.325 hitting percentage) with five service aces and a team-high 16 blocks, six solos.
 
Freshman Madison Beasley and Belles lead the team in assists and digs, respectively, with 159 assists (7.23/set) and 60 digs (2.61/set).
 
Madison Beasley Garners SWAC Setter of the Week
Beasley has been named the Southwestern Athletic Conference Setter of the Week for her performances from Sept. 3 through Sept. 8 as announced by the SWAC office on Wednesday.
 
Beasley compiled 93 assists over the week, equating to 8.45 assists per set. In action, Beasley recorded game high assists in three out of the four games – UAB (19), Chicago State (33) and Cal State Fullerton (25). Her 33 assists against Chicago State marked her season-high in a match.
 
Scouting Memphis
In its last contest, Memphis defeated UT Martin, 3-1 (25-17, 25-27, 25-18, 25-22) to complete its second perfect weekend and claim the Tiger Brawl title on Sept. 7. In the game, Gigi Crescenzo posted her first career double double in 13 digs and 11 kills, helping her earn the Tiger Brawl's Most Outstanding Player award. Hannah Flowers finished with game highs of 15 kills and seven service aces.
 
On the season, Meredith Wallace leads the team with 74 kills averaging 4.11 per set with a .265 hitting percentage. Flowers follows behind with 53 kills (3.12/set) and a team-high 18 service aces. Flowers is third in the nation with a 1.06 service ace per set average.
 
Five Tigers have recorded 45 or more digs on the season led by Mia Migliore with 84 (4.20/set).
 
Scouting IUPUI
IUPUI topped Purdue Fort Wayne, 3-1 (25-20, 17-25, 27-25, 25-23) on Tuesday night to improve to 2-4 on the season. In the match the Jaguars recorded the same amount of kills (55) and assists (53) with three less digs than Purdue Fort Wayne but was able to come out on top in the in-state rivalry game and end a three-match skid.
 
McKayla Wright led the way with a double double in 14 kills and 12 digs, her third double double of the season. Rebecca Schlechte almost posted a double double with a game-high 33 assists and nine digs.
 
On the season, Wright leads the team with 84 kills (3.36/set) in all 25 sets played and leads the team with 10 service aces. Wright is also second on the team with 66 digs. Defensively, Haley Hoffman has a total of 32 blocks including 11 solos.
 
Scouting Southern Illinois
Southern Illinois slipped past Southeast Missouri State in a five-set thriller 3-2 (20-25, 25-22, 13-25, 25-16, 17-15) on Tuesday night. In the match, Alex Washington finished with a double double in 22 digs and 12 kills. Defensively, Lindsey Paulsen posted a game-high five blocks while Laura Rojas finished with 24 digs.
 
On the season, Washington leads the team with 70 kills averaging 2.92 per set with 76 digs (3.17/set), second-most on the team. Rachel Maguire follows behind with 67 kills (2.39/set), 133 assists (second-most on the team) and 10 service aces (second-highest on the team). Rojas has a total of 122 digs on the year, averaging 4.36 per set.
 
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