SC State Women’s Volleyball Defeats Alabama A&M in Five

Senior Alyse Lewis had a career-high hitting percentage .812 in win

Box Score

Orangeburg, S.C.--Senior Alyse Lewis hit for a career-high .812--13 kills off 16 attempts with no errors--as the SC State women's volleyball team defeated Alabama A&M, 3-2 (25-18, 15-25, 25-8, 24-26, 15-10), in a non-conference match in Dukes Gym.

SC State was led by senior Desire Waller with a match-high 25 kills. Waller, who was named the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Player of the Week, also contributed seven digs with four block assists. Sophomore Melanie Williams put up a match-high 49 set assists with 13 digs and freshman Victoria Ferguson had a team-high 14 digs in the match. Lewis had a well-balanced match as she recorded seven blocks with three digs. As a team, the Lady Bulldogs hit .336 and recorded 10 total blocks as they improved to 3-17 on the season.

The Lady Bulldogs began the game very aggressively, recording 15 kills and three blocks en route to the 25-18 set one victory. Alabama A&M quickly rebounded, using 2 kills and a hitting percentage of .346 to win set two, 25-15, and tie the match at 1-1 heading into intermission.

The Lady Bulldogs regained the momentum after intermission, hitting .429 and recording 13 kills while holding Alabama A&M to just eight points en route to the 25-8 third set victory. Set four turned out to be the most competitive set of the match as the teams exchanged points throughout. Alabama A&M prevailed in the set, winning in extra points, 26-24, to force a fifth and deciding set.

Set five belonged to SC State from the first serve. The Lady Bulldogs opened the set on a 10-3 run before Alabama A&M managed to pull within six points, 13-7. SC State would not be outdone as the host went on to win the set by five, 15-10, and the match 3-2.

"The team did a nice job of rebounding after a disappointing weekend," said head coach Valerie Jones. "We did a great job of fighting throughout the match." Jones continued, "I thought we had a well-balanced attack and did a good job of making adjustments throughout the match."

Savanna Blackistone led Alabama A&M attackers with 11 kills. Leslie Ekpe had 10 kills and Rebecca Cortez picked up a match-high 17 digs for the Bulldogs, who dropped to 4-15 overall.

SC State will have six days off from competition before traveling to Buies Creek, N.C. next Tuesday, Oct. 22, to take on Campbell University in the first of three road matches. The Lady Bulldogs will face Bethune-Cookman (Oct. 25) and Florida A&M (Oct. 27) before returning home on Tuesday, Oct. 29, to host Charleston Southern University.

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