PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas | No. 1 seed Alabama State dropped a 3-1 (25-20, 27-29, 23-25, 18-25) contest to No. 5 seed Jackson State in the 2023 Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Tournament Championship semifinals on Saturday afternoon.
 
Jada Rhodes led Alabama State (18-13) with 16 kills and 11 digs, while Jylen Whitten added nine kills and 12 digs. Taila Gaines finished with a career-high nine blocks and seven kills.
 
Madison Beasley finished with 30 assists, while Emily Brooks added 10. Temperance Chatman led the Lady Hornets with 19 digs.
 
Set 1 | Jackson State jumped out to a 6-2 lead early in the set behind the serve of Alexis Williams before Whitten was able to take an assist from Beasley to end the run. The two traded points when Kaylen Hines pulled Alabama State to within 9-5 before Brooks recorded an ace to get the Lady Hornets to within three at 9-6. The lead grew to 12-7 on a Jackson State block before Whitten recorded another kill (12-8) before Jackson State pushed the lead to 14-8 forcing an Alabama State timeout. Following the timeout, the Lady Hornets went on a 4-0 run using kills from Gaines and Christyn Ashby and a block to get to within two at 14-12. Jackson State pushed the lead to 17-12 before the Lady Hornets forced a timeout with a 6-0 run to take an 18-17 lead using kills from Ashby, Gaines, and Rhodes. The run continued after the Jackson State timeout using a block from Gaines to push the lead to 19-17. They extended the run to 10-1 on a kill from Rhodes to push the lead to 22-19 and force another Jackson State timeout. From there, Alabama State was able to put the set away for a 1-0 overall lead in the match.
 
Set 2 | After Alabama State jumped out to an early lead in the set, the two teams traded points before Jackson State was able to take a 10-8 lead on a kill from Alexis Williams and a block. They pushed the lead to 12-9 forcing an Alabama State timeout on a kill from Trinity Bryant, before the Tigers grew the lead to 16-11 on a block. Alabama State battled back using a block from Kaylen Hines to force a Jackson State timeout at 16-14. Brooks responded out of the timeout with a pair of aces to tie the set at 16-all before a block from Hines and A'Nylah Cobb gave Alabama State its first lead at 17-16. The Tigers back to the set at 20-all before they were able to take the lead on a Williams' kill to force an Alabama State timeout up 21-20. The two teams traded points with Alabama State facing a set point down 24-23 before breaking serve and getting an ace from Brooks for a 25-24 lead. Jackson State battled back to tie the set at 25-all before Hines again gave Alabama State set point ay 26-25. The Lady Hornets fell behind again and faced another set point before Whitten recorded a kill down the line, leading to the two teams trading points before the Tigers were able to record back-to-back points to tie the match at 1-all.
 
Set 3 | Jackson State ran out to an early 8-4 lead before Alabama State battled back to 11-10 on a kill from Gaines and a service ace from Whitten. The Tigers extended the lead to 15-11 on a block, leading to a media timeout. Alabama State went on a 4-0 run out of the timeout on the serves of Brooks to tie the set at 15-all and force a Jackson State timeout. Each team built a two-point lead before Alabama State used a service ace from Chatman to grab a 20-19 lead. Jackson State came back to grab a 21-20 lead forcing an Alabama State timeout. The two teams continued to trade points until Jackson State forced another Lady Hornets timeout with a set point at 24-23. The Tigers were able to take advantage of an attack error to grab a 2-1 overall lead.
 
Set 4 | Just like the first three sets, the two teams traded points early in the set with Jackson State using a pair of blocks to build a two-point and held that at 7-5 and extended it to 8-5 to force an Alabama State timeout. The lead grew to 10-5 with back-to-back points out of the timeout from Jackson State. Alabama State was able to get to within a pair at 10-7, but Jackson State answered to keep its lead at 11-7. The two teams traded points with Jackson State grabbing a 14-9 lead and forcing another Alabama State timeout. The Tigers were able to keep the lead at four for most of the set before clinching the overall match.
 
Up Next
Alabama State will await its postseason fate on Nov. 26 when both, the NCAA and NIVC announce their tournament fields.
 
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