PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas | No. 1 seed Alabama State moved into the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Championships semifinals with a 3-0 (25-14, 25-14, 25-21) victory over No. 8 seed Bethune-Cookman on Friday morning.
 
Jada Rhodes, the SWAC Player of the Year, led four players with eight kills and nine digs in the win for Alabama State (18-12). A'Nylah Cobb and Christyn Ashby each added eight kills, while Jylen Whitten added eight kills and five digs.
 
Emily Brooks led the Lady Hornets with 17 assists, while SWAC Setter of the Year Madison Beasley finished with 14. Defensively, Temperance Chatman recorded 11 digs.
 
Set 1 | The two teams battled early in the set until Alabama State used a kill from Cobb to take a 9-7 lead that led to a 6-0 run. The run propelled the Lady Hornets to a 14-7 lead on the serve of Chatman before Bethune-Cookman closed the gap to 15-10. Alabama State scored three straight points to push the lead to 18-10 before taking a 19-11 lead. Following a Wildcat point, Alabama State scored five of the next seven points including the last two for the set win and a 1-0 overall lead.
 
Set 2 | Bethune-Cookman pulled to 5-3 early in the set before the Lady Hornets rattled off four consecutive points to take a 9-3 lead on the service of Brooks. They used a 5-2 run to push the lead 14-5 on a kill from Rhodes before Bethune-Cookman scored four of the next five to get to 14-8. After the Wildcats closed the gap to 18-13, Alabama State went on a 7-1 run including the final four points on the serve of Chatman for the 2-0 lead.
 
Set 3 | Bethune-Cookman ran out to a 14-11 lead midway through the set before pushing it 16-13 forcing an Alabama State timeout. Following the timeout, the Lady Hornets went on a 6-0 run using the serve of Logan Horne to push ahead 19-16. After the Wildcats closed to within 23-21, Alabama State used a block from Ashby and Taila Gaines for the match-winning point.
 
Up Next
Alabama State will face the winner of the No. 4 seed Alabama A&M and No. 5 seed Jackson State match tomorrow at 2 p.m. in the semifinals.

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