MONTGOMERY, Ala. | Alabama State celebrated Senior Day as a pair of seniors, Jada Rhodes and Taila Gaines, reached milestones in a 3-0 (25-23, 28-26, 25-19) victory over Jackson State to finish undefeated in Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) play on Sunday afternoon.
 
Alabama State (17-12, 16-0 SWAC) used 16 kills from Rhodes, who reached 1,000 career kills, in the win. A'Nylah Cobb added 10 and Jylen Whitten eight, while Gaines recorded her 500th career kill in the win.
 
Madison Beasley led the Lady Hornets with 20 assists and Emily Brooks added 19, while Temperance Chatman led the way defensively with 14 digs.
 
How It Happened
Set 1 | Alabama State jumped out to an early 7-4 lead in the opening set, before going on a 4-0 run to push the lead to 11-4 using kills from Cobb and Rhodes during the run. They used another 4-0 run to push the lead to 15-6 using kills from Cobb and Gaines before Jackson State was able to close the gap to six at 19-13. The Lady Hornets used a 4-0 run to push their lead to 23-14 using a kill from Whitten and a service ace from Chatman before Jackson State went on a 4-0 run of its own to close the gap to 23-19. After Alabama State was able to get a set point, Jackson State went on a 4-0 run to close the gap to 24-23 before a kill from Christyn Ashby ended the set.
 
Set 2 | The set saw both teams trade points with the set tied at 13-all before Jackson State scored back-to-back points to take a 14-13 lead. The set bounced back and forth until Jackson State went on a 3-0 run to take a 21-18 lead forcing an Alabama State timeout. The Lady Hornets came out of the timeout on a 4-0 run to grab a 22-21 lead using the serve of Beasley to take the lead. The Lady Hornets had set point before having to battle against Jackson State who scored back-to-back points to get a set point of its own. Alabama State broke the serve of the Tigers using a kill from Rhodes before a block from Cobb and Ma'Kayla Jones gave the Lady Hornets a chance to grab the set. Rhodes ended the set with another kill for the 2-0 lead.
 
Set 3 | Jackson State jumped out to a 4-0 lead before Alabama State was able to get on the board. The Tigers pushed the lead to 6-2 before the Lady Hornets scored seven of the next nine points to grab a 9-6 lead behind the serves of Chatman. The two teams would trade points until a 6-0 run from Alabama State pushed the lead to 18-13 using an ace from Brooks, a pair of kills from Rhodes, and another from Cobb in the run. A 3-0 run pushed the lead to 21-14 before Jackson State went on a 5-0 of its own to pull to 21-19. The Lady Hornets scored the final four points of the set and ended it with a kill from Gaines for the win.
 
Up Next
Alabama State heads west for the SWAC Championship Tournament hosted by Prairie View A&M on Friday, hitting the court at 11 a.m. in the quarterfinals.

Follow the Hornets
For complete coverage of Alabama State athletics, follow the Hornets on social media @BamaStateSports (Twitter), /BamaStateSports (Facebook), @bamastatesports (Instagram), or visit the official home of Alabama State athletics at bamastatesports.com.


  Read Full Article