Box Score / Madinah Abdullah finished with 15 kills and 13 digs as the Alabama A&M volleyball team defeated the Chargers of Alabama-Huntsville in five sets at Elmore Gym on Tues. night. Courtney Jenkins went 10-for-19 for a .526 hitting percentage to help lead the offensive attack. With the win, the Bulldogs improve to 17-11 on the season is riding a nine game win streak.
In the opening set of the match, the lead seesawed back and forth early with neither team being able to gain a solid advantage. With the score tied at 19, A&M opened up a little breathing room with three straight points to take a 22-19 lead. However, the Lady Chargers answered with back-to-back points to cut the lead to 22-21. The Bulldogs never gave up the lead and went on to take the set 25-22.
The Lady Chargers came roaring out of the gate in the second set, jumping out to a 3-0 lead. UAH stretched their lead to 11-6 after a kill Laura Fry, forcing an A&M timeout.
The Lady Chargers maintained a cushion and held a 17-13 advantage when A&M rallied with three unanswered points. Abdullah capped the run with a kill off UAH libero Kaeli McCaghren, making the score 17-16. Later, a cross-court kill by Mariah Brown tied the score at 19-all. UAH would put together consecutive kills by Jessica Ruple to go up 21-19, but A&M rallied for five straight to take a 24-21 lead. A ball handling error by A&M and a kill by Lauren Simmons pulled the Lady Chargers to within a point at 24-23. However, a service error by Ruple ended the second set with a 25-23 A&M win.
Fighting for survival, the Lady Chargers took an early 8-1 lead in the third set. The UAH lead grew to 10 at 17-7 after back-to-back kills by Ruple. A&M tried to rally, cutting the deficit down to 18-12. Later, the Bulldogs closed to within four at 22-18 after a service ace by Clarissa Moore. However, the Lady
Chargers fought off the threat and took set three 25-19.
The Lady Chargers grabbed the early 4-point lead in the fourth set. A smash by Fry gave UAH a 13-9 advantage. A light tip off the A&M defense by Allison Cousins gave the Lady Chargers a 17-11 lead.
UAH was up 18-14 when disaster struck. While battling at the net for a loose ball, Ruple came down awkwardly and went to the floor in pain. After that, A&M rallied, outscoring UAH 9-3 to take a 23-22 lead. But, the Lady Chargers recovered from the loss of their leading scorer, scoring the last three points of the set to take a 25-23 win.
The Lady Chargers couldn't answer the bell in the final set. A&M scored the first four points and never looked back. The Bulldogs went on to finish off the set 15-6 to end the match.
For A&M, Corneille finished with 22 digs and Natalie Rodriguez contributed 51 assists. As a team, the Bulldogs finished with a .320 hitting clip, converting 65-of-150 attempts.
Four players had double-digit kills for the Lady Chargers. Ruple led the way with 16 kills. She also had 15 digs. Fry and Simmons each had 15 kills, while Allison Cousins tallied 11 kills. McCaghren finished with 14 digs and Julie Price had 11. Kelly Wilson contributed 58 assists.
