HUNTSVILLE, AL. --- The Alabama A&M women's volleyball team streaked to its fourth consecutive win with a 3-0 shutout of Mississippi Valley State on Saturday afternoon.
The Lady Bulldogs won the match by scores of 25-22, 25-12 and 25-15. With the win, AAMU improved to 5-13 overall and 4-1 in Southwestern Athletic Conference play. The Devilettes fell to 2-12 overall and 0-5 SWAC.
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"We have been talking to the girls about putting together three good games and today they done just that," said Head Coach Rose Powell. "We got a lot of production from Terra Brooks on serving and she did some great things on her hitting."
"Receiving more production from all of the players will help us as we move forward in conference play," added Powell. "The team is looking better as they are coming together on the court and everybody is finding some confidence in one another."
In the opening set, MVSU jumped out to a 6-1 lead. AAMU went on a 7-4 run to cut the lead to two. Trailing 14-12, A&M responded with five straight points, including kills from Riley Balsmeyer and Terra Brooks. The teams continued to trade points, and with the set tied at 22, the Lady Bulldogs went on to close the set 25-22.
The second set was all AAMU from the start. The Lady Bulldogs built a 15-1 advantage with kills from Ashundria McNeal, Ariana Jones, and Rebecca Pierce. With AAMU holding a 20-4 lead, the Devilettes made one final push with a 7-1 run to cut A&M's lead. However, their effort would not be enough as A&M won the second set 25-12.
The final set started as a tight affair with the score tied at 6-all early. AAMU, though, used a 12-6 run to take an 18-12 lead and regained control of the third set to secure the victory 25-15. Â Â
McNeal led the offensive attack with 20 kills, 18 digs and three blocks. Junior Courtney Oliver added seven kills and only two errors for a .313 hitting percentage. Sophomore Jaelin Gant had five kills and helped pace the defense with 11 digs. Brooks added five kills for A&M.
Balsmeyer had 34 assists to go along with four digs. Pierce added 13 digs to go along with three service aces.
As a team, the Lady Bulldogs hit .272 with 43 kills and just 15 errors. They forced the Devilettes into a .053 hitting percentage, including 16 errors. Â AAMU had six total blocks.
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