NEW ORLEANS, La. – Alabama A&M (0-3, 0-0 SWAC) fell in their final match of the Tulane Invitational with a 3-0 (25-11, 25-10, 25-15) decision to Southland Conference member Northwestern State (1-2, 0-0 Southland) in an NCAA Division I women's volleyball match on Saturday, August 28.
The Lady Demons took an early 6-0 lead with four kills, three from Symone Wesley before A&M used a mini 4-0 run to close the gap to 6-4. NSU would register six more kills that produced a 14-5 lead. AAMU would then respond with a 4-0 burst to cut it to 14-9.
The Bulldogs would score their last two points of the first frame before the Lady Demons would unleash nine consecutive points to push to a 25-11 victory and win the first set.
NSU would waste no time in taking the lead in the second set and recreate the first by going on a 7-0 lead. The Bulldogs would get just four points on the board before the Lady Demons powered out to a massive 20-4 lead.
A&M would have a 4-0 run that made the score 22-9 but Northwestern State would wrap up the second set, scoring three of the last four points to take a 2-0 lead.
In the final frame, the Lady Demons took an early 11-3 lead, before the Bulldogs had a 3-0 run lead by a kill from freshman middle hitter Ryann Tolbert (Southfield, Mich.) to close the gap to 11-6.
AAMU would also produce four more kills, two more from Tolbert and one a piece from junior middle hitter Alana Cox (Madison, Ala.) and freshman middle hitter Samaurya Mahone (Duncanville, Texas) but it would not be enough to stop an NSU team that would power out to a ten-point margin lead and win the set 25-15.
Tolbert and sophomore middle hitter Catherine Ndukwe (Detroit, Mich.) led the Bulldogs in kills with three apiece and freshman setter Tristyn Holmes (Hampton, Ga.) fueled the offense with five assists. Senior defensive specialist Maci Battle (Meridianville, Ala.) chipped in with nine digs to round out the top performers.
Kate Idrogo had six kills for the Lady Demons while Autumn Gentry had 19 assists and Haley Hoang lead the defense with 11 digs.
The Bulldogs will next take the court on Friday September 3 to battle Southern Illinois at the Saluki Bash. Game time is slated for 12 p.m. in Carbondale, Illinois.
