Montgomery, Ala.—SC State defeated Mississippi Valley State, 3-1 (25-17, 18-25, 25-10, 25-19), in its opening game of the Alabama State Tournament. The tournament, which concludes tomorrow (Saturday, Sept. 24), is being contested at Lockhart Gymnasium on the campus of Alabama State.

Set One of the match belonged to SC State. After exchanging the first five points with Mississippi Valley State to open the contest, SC State took complete command of the set. The Lady Bulldogs went on a 8-3 run to take a 13-8 advantage and never let up. Mississippi Valley State did manage to pull within one at 14-15, but the Lady Bulldogs once again pulled away, using a 6-0 run to increase its lead to 20-14. The Lady Bulldogs hit an impressive .414 (17 kills) while allowing just six kills by Mississippi Valley State en route to a 25-17 Set One victory.

Set Two of the match was completely opposite as Mississippi Valley State jumped out to an 8-2 advantage to start the set and kept pressing. The Devilettes held SC State to a .135 hitting percentage in the second set (12 kills) and managed to hit .310 as they won Set Two 25-18.

SC State came out after the 10 minute intermission refocused. The Lady Bulldogs held Mississippi Valley State to a combined 12 kills and combined hitting percentage of .063 for Sets Three & Four. SC States on the other hand recorded a combined 31 kills for a hitting percentage of .400 over the two sets. The Lady Bulldogs won Set Three, 25-10 and Set Four, 25-19 en route to the 3-1 match victory.

The Lady Bulldogs had four players to record double-digit kills and two to record double-digit digs. For the match Desire Waller had 19 kills, Paige Webb and Shabree Roberson had 12 each and Peri Ligons contributed 10 kills for SC State. Brendell Studnicka picked up 15 digs while Bria Brimmer had 10 in the contest. Brimmer continues to run an effective offense as she put up 49 set assists in the victory. As a team, SC State had 60 kills (.322 hitting percentage) and five team blocks.

Mississippi Valley State was led by Brychana Williams with 10 kills. April Brown had 17 set assists in the loss.

SC State will conclude the tournament play, Saturday (Sept. 24) beginning at 1 p.m. when they take on Jackson State. The Lady Bulldogs will face host Alabama State at 5 p.m. on Saturday.