TROY, Ala. – The Alabama State University women's volleyball team picked up its first set victory of the season in its 25-22 first frame on Saturday afternoon, and while it collected another set while going beyond the minimum in the deciding set, it wasn't enough to beat the Mercer Bears in a 3-2 contest inside Trojan Arena in the second of three matches at the Troy Invitational this weekend.
The Hornets (0-2 overall) took another step closer to a victory on Saturday, showing signs of dominance as they battled the Bears (1-1), who edged ASU in sets four and five to collect its first win of the 2026 season. The Hornets collected a 25-22 win in set one and a 25-21 victory in the third, while the Bears snagged scores of 25-16, 25-22, and 16-14 in its second, fourth, and fifth set victories, respectively.
Alabama State suffered a four-score setback off the first Mercer serve, but battled back to tie things at 12-all. Back-and-forth rallies between the two teams took place up until the 21st point, when rookie right side hitter
Julia Slaughter took a service run near the end of the frame, a three-point swing that ended up being the deciding factor in putting the Hornets up a set.
While the second of the five battles went the way of the Bears, the Hornets had four consecutive points off of
Kamrynn Clay serves, including two of her team-high five service aces on the afternoon. Head coach
Penny Lucas-White's squad maintained the sizeable advantage throughout the set, and while the Bears drew close, two more Clay aces sealed the deal to take a 2-1 lead.
The two close Hornet defeats featured competitive efforts from both sides. The fourth set saw the team come back from an early, eight-point deficit and force it into another back-and-forth contest before a pair of Mercer ace serves forced a tiebreaker, and that close point margin continued into the final set, which had to be decided by an extra tally following the 15-point minimum.
Reigning All-SWAC First Team middle hitter
Kaylen Hines led the way for the Hornets in Kills, while Clay was credited with 45 of the team's 47 aces to go along with her five-ace night.
Lyric Edwards (3) and
Mikalah Davis (2) notched multiple blocks on the night, while junior libero
Mirra Riddle led all players with 22 digs in a losing effort.
The tournament wraps up with a Sunday afternoon contest against host Troy University, who will battle the Hornets at 2 p.m. inside Trojan Arena.
