Hornets Volleyball Clinches Regular Season Title, Set to Face Alabama A&M in First Round of SWAC Tournament

MONTGOMERY, Ala. | The Alabama State women's volleyball team (18-13, 15-1 SWAC) finished the 2022 season on a 12-game winning streak to clinch the SWAC regular season title. Alabama State will face conference rival Alabama A&M on Friday, November 18, at 11 a.m. in the first match of the SWAC tournament. Texas Southern is the host school for this year's tournament.

"This group has been so resilient and they've been so hungry and intentional with how they train", said Head Coach Penny Lucas-White. "Now the regular season is over and we're looking at the postseason as a whole new season…this is where the rubber meets the road and we have to leave it all on the court."

After starting the season 3-12, the Lady Hornets responded dominantly by winning 15 of their next 16 matches, including seven sweeps during that streak. When asked how her players responded to the adversity, Coach White said, "It didn't break their spirit and showed us how good we were in glimpses. We have all the tools in the toolkit, we just weren't mature enough early on this season but these young women have responded extremely well."

KEY PLAYERS

Jada Rhodes (Tallahassee, Fla.) leads the way for the Lady Hornets in kills after logging a team-high 318 during her junior campaign. Rhodes is also second on the team in digs, scooping 222 this year. When asked about the team's success this season, Rhodes had this to say, "I think we all remember that feeling of losing last year in the semifinal and we wanted to make sure that didn't happen again. The motivation from that loss translated from preseason to regular season and now postseason."

Madison Beasley (Gilbert, Ariz.) registered 399 assists across 23 matches played this season as a setter for the Lady Hornets. Beasley is sixth in the SWAC in total assists. The senior has now surpassed 1400 assists in her career at Alabama State. She says, "It took the team as a collective group to get on one accord for things to start clicking for us. We realized it would take everyone. Starters, the bench, coaches, everyone!"

Kalysia Bates (Phenix City, Ala.) ranks second on the team in kills with 291 across 32 matches this season which is good for ninth in the conference. She is fourth in the conference in hitting percentage with .305. Bates also leads the team in service aces, dishing out 42 this year while also leading ASU in total blocks (105). When asked about the upcoming conference tournament, Bates said, "I think we need to stay focused on being disciplined, being precise, and paying close attention to detail. We want to play with aggression, and passion and ultimately come out on top."

MATCHUP

Alabama State closed out the season with a 3-1 win over Alabama A&M to complete the season sweep of the Bulldogs. Friday's match will be the 30th meeting all-time between the two programs. Alabama State leads the series 19-10 dating back to 2009.

The Lady Hornets will enter the tournament as the #1 seed while the Bulldogs enter as the #8 seed.

Alabama State is fourth in the conference in kills with 1,279 as a team followed by 1697.5 points which is good for third in the league. On the defensive end, ASU ranks second in total blocks (207.5) and fifth in digs with 1,410 as a team.

Alabama A&M ranks eighth in total points (1307.5), hitting percentage (.127), and kills (1,018). The Lady Bulldogs finished the season with a 7-25 record and a 6-10 record in conference play to clinch the eighth seed in the SWAC Tournament.

NEXT UP

The full tournament schedule can be found below. All matches will be broadcast live on the SWAC Digital Network.

Date	Volleyball Tournament Schedule	Time	Watch
Nov. 18	Match 1: #1 Alabama State vs. #8 Alabama A&M	11:00 am	SDN
Nov. 18	Match 2: #4 Jackson State vs. #5 Texas Southern	1:30 pm	SDN
Nov. 18	Match 3: #2 Florida A&M vs. #7 Arkansas-Pine Bluff	4:00 pm	SDN
Nov. 18	Match 4: #3 Grambling State vs. #6 Bethune-Cookman	6:30 pm	SDN
Nov. 19	Match 5: Match 1 Winner vs. Match 2 Winner	2:00 pm	SDN
Nov. 19	Match 6: Match 3 Winner vs. Match 4 Winner	4:30 pm	SDN
Nov. 20	Match 7: Match 5 Winner vs. Match 6 Winner	3:00 pm	ESPN3

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Players Mentioned

#3 Kalysia Bates: MB; 6' 1"; Graduate Student

#15 Madison Beasley: S; 5' 7"; Senior

#4 Jada Rhodes: OH; 5' 8"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#3 Kalysia Bates
: 6' 1"; Graduate Student
: MB

#15 Madison Beasley
: 5' 7"; Senior
: S

#4 Jada Rhodes
: 5' 8"; Junior
: OH

Players Mentioned

#3 Kalysia Bates

#15 Madison Beasley

#4 Jada Rhodes

Players Mentioned

#3 Kalysia Bates

#15 Madison Beasley

#4 Jada Rhodes