MONTGOMERY, Ala. – In an effort to try to find the rhythm that carried it to the semifinals of last season's Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Championship Tournament a season ago, it took care of the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils in three straight sets on Thursday evening in conference action inside the Joe L. Reed Dunn-Oliver Acadome.
The Lady Hornets (3-16, 1-5 SWAC) played on its home court for the first time in well over a month, and certainly found its way in quick, 25-17, 25-11, 25-16 sets over a Delta Devils (1-16, 0-8 SWAC) squad that has hit a similar run of struggles this season. With the victory, Alabama State finds itself with a 3-1 home record as it picked up its 26th consecutive victory over MVSU, its second-longest stretch of success against any team in program history.
Emani Green had a strong service run that was buoyed by four
Alexis Williams kills, as the junior middle blocker continues a recent run of dominance over her past three games. MVSU stayed within punching distance until
Taylor Williams served six straight Hornet points and forced errors that let Bama State cruise to an opening-set win.
The Hornets didn't have to do much to take the second frame, as a strong team effort was used on both the attacking end and the defensive side to hold the Delta Devils to four of the first 15 points and just seven points in the remainder of the set.
ASU took the early advantage with a pair of scoring stretches on service runs from
Taylor Williams and
Kaylen Hines to go up by three, but Mississippi Valley State found a way to bring things even and keep it close for the visitors. Down the stretch, libero
Mirra Riddle had a service ace on three straight points, which was followed shortly thereafter by star setter
Kamrynn Clay serving two aces on a 6-0 run to extend the game to a ten-point advantage. The Hornets sent vicious attacks at the Delta Devils in the final rallies to secure a dominant, 25-16 victory.
Alabama State was led by Clay, the reigning SWAC Setter of the Year, who assisted on 26 of the team's 36 kills to go along with eight digs and a team-high three ace serves.
Amaya Robinson had her fourth career double-digit kill game, sending down a team-high 12 kills on a 41 percent kill rate. Riddle and
Taylor Williams each notched double-digit digs, with Williams leading the way with 13 and Riddle following close behind with 12.
The Hornets led in team statistics across the board, including in kills (36-24), assists (32-21), aces (6-2), digs (48-36) and blocks (5-4). The home team also at least tripled MVSU's kill success percentage in all three sets, finishing the match with a .232 attack mark.
The Lady Hornets round out its three-match homestand with a Sunday afternoon meeting with Jackson State on October 18 at noon inside the Acadome, and will close things out with a Wednesday evening contest against the Alabama A&M Bulldogs on October 21 inside Lockhart Gymnasium.
