HOUSTON, Texas – Taking on the regular season champion, No. 8 Seed Alabama A&M (7-26, 6-11 SWAC) closed the 2022 campaign with a 3-0 (25-14, 25-23. 25-11) loss to No. 1 Seed Alabama State (19-13, 15-1 SWAC) in a Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Tournament Quarterfinal and NCAA Division I women's volleyball match on Friday, November 18.
The Hornets made short work of the opening set, scoring the first five points on their way to a commanding 15-3 lead. A&M would then battle back to within 23-14 before back-to-back kills by Amaya Finley and Taniya Jones sealed the 25-14 victory.
Up 1-0, ASU would need to fight to expand their advantage as the Bulldogs took leads of 5-4 and 9-8 before deadlocking at twice, the last at 12-12. A 3-0 burst put the Hornets back up but it wouldn't last as three straight errors and a kill fueled a 4-0 run that gave Alabama A&M a 16-15 lead.
From there the clubs would battle through a pair of lead changes and five ties, the last of the latter coming at 23-23. As they did in the first Alabama State delivered at the net with a pair of kills, this time by Kalysia Bates and Mahogany Vinson, to secure a 25-23 decision and two set lead.
Despite an early 4-4 tie the third set would not be near as competitive with ASU erupting for a decisive 19-5 run that gave them a 23-9 advantage. A&M would take three of the next four points but go no further as a service error closed out the set at 25-11 and the match at 3-0.
Freshman middle blocker Kemora Coachman (Harvest, Ala.) led the way for the Bulldogs with five kills and seven digs while freshman outside hitter Bailey Duckett (Huntsville, Ala.) wasn't far behind with five kills and six digs. Freshman outside hitter Caitlin Shaw (Desoto, Texas) anchored the defense with nine digs and freshman setter Grace Tapscott (Hartselle, Ala.) finished with 15 assists and five digs.
Jada Rhodes hammered 15 kills with 10 digs to lead ASU with Madison Beasley and Emily Brooks sharing the setting duties with 22 and 13, respectively. Bates and Vinson each had eight kills to round out the offense and Temperance Chatman led the defense with 19 digs.
A&M closes out the 2022 campaign with a nearly entirely new roster and their first appearance in the SWAC Tournament since the 2019 season.
