MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Alabama State University women's volleyball team looked to build on its first Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) victory a from few days ago in a tough competition on Sunday afternoon, as the Jackson State Tigers dropped a 3-1 match to the Lady Hornets inside the Joe L. Reed Dunn-Oliver Acadome.
The Hornets (4-16, 2-5 SWAC) have had some tough losses where it has shown its ability to execute in different places, and as it utilized the momentum from Thursday's victory as extra fuel, it overcame the Tigers (9-13, 5-4 SWAC) in a showing where three of the four sets had no more than three-point margins of victory and long rallies were strung together by both sides.
The Alabama State attackers placed the ball in the right spots in the first set, making it uncomfortable for the Tigers to set up a strong response as the frame moved quickly along. The Hornets opened with a big push and continued having an efficient day from the attacking line, challenging a Jackson State squad that is one of the best in the conference in attack efficiency and total kills.
As the score margin remained within a pair for the back half of play, pivotal kills were hammered down by
Kaylen Hines and
Alexis Williams to keep the Tigers at bay, and fellow frontline attacker
Taylor Williams slammed down the set-clinching kill to give the Hornets a 26-24 win and a 1-0 advantage.
It was a different start to the second set, as some of the same attack attempts from ASU were defended well by the Tigers as they ran out to a three-point advantage. The Black and Gold responded with a 16-6 run to go up 19-12 and force JSU to use two quick timeouts. It continued to dominate through the 25th point, as Hines and the Williams tandem helped ASU outkill the Tigers, 14-7 in the frame. While Jackson State did find some success and made a comeback following the rally, a pair of Hines kills ended up costing them in the 25-22 set two victory.
Similar to the other two sets producing close results, the third set was no different, as the teams stayed within two for much of the first half. Jackson State pulled away towards the halfway point, building a five-point advantage that it would continue building on as it cruised to a third-set win, 25-14.
The match returned to tight competition in the fourth set, as scoring went back and forth between the two teams before a pair of
Mikalah Davis ace serves gave ASU the slight edge. JSU had a quick run that brought it back even multiple times, and after the mid-set timeout, it was a thrilling rush to the end, one that ended up being just as close to the finish as Alabama State had quite the comeback and proceeded to hold off JSU in a 25-23 deciding set victory.
The attacking trio of Hines, Williams and Williams led a 56 kill effort for the Hornets, as the former led the team with 22 kills while adding two block assists. Most of their success was assisted by star setter
Kamrynn Clay, who had 49 assists on the day.
Mirra Riddle had 26 digs to lead the way, with
Emani Green (16) and
Taylor Williams (12) also reaching double digits.
Alabama State has now won back-to-back contests against the Tigers for the first time since 2023, and it led its long-time foe in kills (56-48), set assists (53-45) and ace serves (7-4).
The Lady Hornets head back to its primary home base of Lockhart Gymnasium on Wednesday in SWAC play when it hosts Alabama A&M on October 21 at 6 p.m. It finishes off the week with two road contests at Arkansas-Pine Bluff (Friday, Oct. 23 at 6 p.m.) and Grambling State (Sunday, Oct. 25 at noon).
