WVB Tourney: Hornets Force Second Championship Match with Southern
SWAC.org
BATON ROUGE, La. – Alabama State defeated Southern 3-1 Sunday night in the Cliford Seymour Gymnasium. Because of double elimination, both teams will play a second match against each other to decide the winner of the 2014 SWAC Volleyball Championship. The scores of the match include: 25-20, 25-14, 25-19, 25-17.
Amber Bennett owned the match with 13 kills, while Phalen Clark pitched in 32 assists. Jamie Coleman registered 15 digs. The Hornets claimed their highest hitting percentage in the third set at .417, while the Jaguars collected theirs in the first.
Southern started things off in the first set, but were soon met by Alabama States’ attacks. Two kills from the Jaguars put Southern back in the lead, 5-4. The Hornets climbed back ahead, but miscommunication aloud the Jaguars to snag the lead by two points. The set scored crept higher as both teams presented impressive rallies, but it was Southern pulled ahead with three points. The Jaguars took the first set, 25-20. Southern held Alabama State at a .036 hitting percentage, while they collected a .250 percentage.
A set error and a kill allowed Southern the starting points of the set. Fight from ASU brought the score to a tie and then earned the Hornets the lead, 7-4. Under the leadership of Lelani Leallaimatafao, the Jaguars took over with a one-point gap. Emotional errors went on as Alabama State put together a seven –point run crafting the lead. Their battle plan proved successful as ASU won the second set, 25-14. With that win, both teams transition into the third set, 1-1.
Back to back errors from the Jaguars set the tone for the third set as Alabama State jumped to a 4-0 lead under Scout Wonsang. Mistakes continued to haunt Southern as the Hornets zoomed to a 9-3 score, forcing a timeout. Court misplacement shook the Jaguars and increased ASU’s placement on the board. A missed timeout call from the R2 referee allotted Alabama State the chance to score on an empty court, but the play was then called back by the R1 referee. Southern battled back into the set with kills from Shauntie Carr and Chinasa Ekweariri, but the fire fizzled as the Hornets took the win, 25-19.
The fourth set started much like the third as each team traded scores, but a gust of points from the Hornets awarded them the advantage. The scoring gap grew closer as Southern worked under servers Melodie Malone and Phalen Clark. But, attacks from Alabama State secured a 19-14 score. The Hornets continued to build as ASU won the match, 25-17, forcing another match at 7 p.m. between the two team - due to double elimination.
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