ORLANDO, Fla. | Alabama State dropped a four-set match on the opening day of the UCF Challenge to Wake Forest, 3-1 (25-16, 21-25, 15-25, 19-25) on Friday afternoon.
Kaylen Hines led Alabama State (0-4) with 10 kills, while
Jada Rhodes added eight and
Jylen Whitten seven. Meanwhile, Rhodes and
Emily Brooks added three service aces while
Madison Beasley led the team with 14 assists and chipped in with eight digs. Meanwhile, Brooks added 13 assists.
Rhodes led Alabama State with 11 digs, while
Talia Gaines led the team with six blocks.
How It Happened
SET 1 | Alabama State scored the first two points of the set including on an ace from Beasley and then went on a 6-0 run to open up an 8-1 lead with kills from four different players. Following a 5-1 run by Wake Forest (4-0), the Lady Hornets used a pair of service aces to go on a 4-0 run to pull away for a 13-6 lead. They later went on a 4-0 run to take a 17-8 lead highlighted by a service ace by Rhodes, before putting the set away on a kill by Beasley and a pair of Wake Forest errors.
SET 2 | Wake Forest jumped out to a 4-1 before Alabama State battled back to take a 5-4 lead highlighted by a kill from Rhodes. After the teams traded points to get to 7-all, Alabama State took an 11-7 lead using a 4-0 run behind a pair of service aces from Rhodes. After a Wake Forest point, Alabama State forged ahead 15-10 before the Demon Deacons went on a 7-0 run to take a 17-15 lead in the set. The Lady Hornets pulled to within a point before Wake Forest pulled away to even the match.
SET 3 | Wake Forest jumped ahead 5-2 early in the set and extended the lead to 11-4 with a pair of 3-0 runs before back-to-back points for Alabama State trimmed the deficit to 11-6. However, Wake used a 3-0 run to push ahead 15-7 and that was as close as Alabama State could get until 18-11.
SET 4 | The Lady Hornets fell behind 6-0 to start the set before scoring back-to-back points on a pair of errors by the Demon Deacons. The lead grew to 13-4 before the Lady Hornets three of the next four to pull within seven at 14-7. The Lady Hornets went on a pair of mini-runs before going on a 4-0 run to pull to within 22-17 on kills from Hines and Whitten and a service ace from
Logan Horne. The teams traded points until Wake Forest was able to put the set and match away.
Up Next
Alabama State returns to action in the UCF Challenge on Saturday against FIU with the first serve listed at 10 am.
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