Lady Bulldogs Victorious on Senior Night

Box Score

Normal- Tonight was a night for true celebration for the Maroon & White volleyball team. The energy in T.M. Elmore was electric and that celebration fever struck everyone within the confines of the four walls.

To start the merriment off, Director of Athletics Bryan Hicks along with the Bulldog crowd celebrated Head Coach Nedra Brown for winning her 100^th contest as the leader of the Alabama A&M volleyball program. Brown received the milestone victory on the road at Albany State on October 22. Coincidentally three of Brown's milestone victories have been against the same Albany State Program; win one, 100 and 101 all came against the Lady Rams.

After acknowledging Brown, senior night action began in great fashion. The Maroon & White got off to an early 8-1 lead over the visiting Alcorn State and forced a called time out from their head coach. After returning to the court, the Lady Bulldogs continued their dominance and won set one easily, only allowing five ASU points (25-5).

In set two, it was evident the Lady Braves were now ready to play. A&M quickly faced a 5-2 deficit due to multiple errors and an increased ASU effort. Back to back kills, by middle blockers Ashundria McNeal and Leslie Ekpe appeared to start to swing the momentum in favor of the home team, but again ASU put up a fight. After trading both kills and errors with the Lady Braves, Head Coach Nedra Brown called her first time out of the contest at 8-7 A&M. A great service series from Leslie Ekpe allowed A&M to stretch their lead to 15-9, and again the ASU head coach was forced to call a time out in hopes of killing the Maroon & Whites flow.

The Lady Bulldogs never looked back, although when just three points away from the win ASU constructed a mini come back and pulled to within four at 22-18. After a second Brown called time out, the team returned to form and closed out the set without conceding another point (25-18).

During the break, the team celebrated their three seniors, Maria Reyes Ramos who has been with the team two years, along with Leslie Ekpe and Ashley Forman who have both been with the program for four years. It was a great moment for the players, as they were able to celebrate the moment with family, friends and the amazing crowd in Elmore Gymnasium.

In set three, the Maroon & White again went straight back to business. They captured a 3-0 victory over the visitors with a 25-12 set three win. The final play was symbolic and special for multiple reasons. It was began and ended with great play from the Maroon & White seniors, capping off the victory in style was Leslie Ekpe with a monster block.

The seniors were sent off in high fashion, playing in their last game on "The Hill", the three seniors lead the way in nearly every category. Ekpe finished with a team high nine kills, and team high digs with twelve. Maria Reyes-Ramos finished second behind Ekpe adding eight kills of her own. Lastly the three seniors combined to lead the way in assists, Ashley Forman finished with a game high 29, while Ekpe and Ramos added three and two respectively.

With senior night being the final regular season contest, the team will now prepare for the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament that will begin on Saturday, November 23.

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