TUCSON, Ariz. | Alabama State dropped a tough 3-1 (25-19, 26-24, 18-25, 25-18) match to New Mexico State in its opening match at the Wildcat Classic inside the McKale Center.
 
Jada Rhodes led Alabama State with 17 kills, while A'Nylah Cobb added 13 in the loss. Emily Brooks recorded 22 assists with Madison Beasley adding 16, while Jylen Whitten recorded 10 digs to go along with seven kills.

Temperance Chatman led Alabama State with 13 digs.
 
Alabama State hit .232 as a team in the match.
 
SET 1 | Alabama State opened the match with the two first points before New Mexico State went on a 3-0 run before Rhodes ended the run with a kill to even the score at 3-all. The Aggies forced a timeout by Alabama State after taking a 6-3 lead and extended that to 7-3 before Alabama State ended the run and got to within 8-4. The Lady Hornets were able to stay within four until a kill from Sidney McIntosh pushed the New Mexico State lead to 12-7, but that was short-lived as Taila Gaines trimmed the lead back to four at 12-8. The Lady Hornets pulled to within three at 13-10 before Alabama State was forced to call a timeout down 15-10. Beasley ended a 7-1 run by New Mexico State with a kill to trim the deficit to 20-12, followed by a kill from Ma'Kayla Jones. The Lady Hornets rode the momentum to go on a 5-2 run to pull to within 24-19 before New Mexico State was able to put the opening set away for the 1-0 overall lead.
 
SET 2 | The two teams traded points early with Alabama State using an ace from Rhodes and the two were tied at 5-all. They continued to trade points with Alabama State taking a 7-6 lead on another Rhodes, however, they found themselves tied at 8-all. New Mexico State was able to extend the lead to 12-9 on a 4-1 run before Gaines ended it with a kill to pull Alabama State to within 12-10. After Alabama State was forced to call a timeout trailing 16-12, the Lady Hornets went on a 5-1 run to tie the set up and force a New Mexico State timeout. After Alabama State tied the match at 17-all, New Mexico State went on a 3-0 run to force an Alabama State timeout to a 20-17 lead. The two battled through the next seven points with Alabama State pulling within 23-21 on back-to-back kills from Christyn Ashby and Whitten. The Lady Hornets tied things up at 23-all using a kill from Cobb to tie it up before another to take a 24-23 lead. New Mexico State was able to score the last three points of the set to take a 2-0 overall lead.
 
SET 3 | Much like the previous set, the two teams traded points early with the Lady Hornets going on a 3-0 run highlighted by a Brooks service ace to take a 5-4 lead. After trailing 13-12, Alabama State came back on a 4-0 run to grab a 16-13 lead and force a New Mexico State timeout. The run continued out of the timeout to build a 17-13 lead before New Mexico State was able to get on the board. After New Mexico State was able to trim the deficit to 17-15, the Lady Hornets a trio of kills off the serve of Chatman to grab a 21-15 lead. They continued to grow the lead to 23-15 on kills from Cobb and Rhodes before putting the set away to force a fourth set.
 
SET 4 | New Mexico State took an early 3-1 lead before Alabama State used a 4-0 run to take a 5-4 lead highlighted by a solo block from Ashby and a kill from Beasley. Following that run by the Lady Hornets, the two traded points until Alabama State took a 13-12 lead. The Aggies answered with a 4-0 run to take an 18-14 lead after an Alabama State timeout. The Lady Hornets pulled to within 20-17 on a kill from Rhodes before New Mexico State was able to pull away for the win.
 
Up Next
Alabama State continues play in the Wildcat Classic Friday afternoon against Long Beach State with a start time scheduled for 6 pm (CT)/4 pm (MT).
 
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