ITTA BENA, Miss. – Alabama A&M (2-15, 0-0 SWAC) continued to pummel one of their most frequent opponents as they won their 28
th straight match over Mississippi Valley State (1-10, 0-2 SWAC) with a 3-0 decision (25-21, 25-14, 25-21) in an NCAA Division I women's volleyball match on Monday, September 26.
The Bulldogs would double up MVSU midway through as they surged out to a 14-7 lead only to see four straight points from the Delta Devils cut it to a four-point margin. In what would turn into a game of runs, A&M would answer with five of the next six points for a 19-12 lead but would manage just one of the eight after that as their lead would dwindle to 20-19. One last run, this one 5-2, would put it away, however, as they locked up the 25-21 opening set victory.
Up 1-0 in the match, Alabama A&M would hold a narrow 8-7 advantage before exploding for nine straight points as they forced six errors to extend to a 17-7 lead. For all intents and purposes that outburst put the frame away as the most Mississippi Valley State would muster would be three straight on their way to a 25-14 defeat.
Trailing 6-4 in Game 3, the Bulldogs put together and 8-2 run to flip the script and pull ahead 12-8 before three kills fueled a mini 4-0 run to tie it for the Delta Devils. With it being a race to the first one to 13 points at that point, that would be a race that A&M would win as they used a 13-9 stretch to close out the 3-0 sweep with a 25-21 decision.
Freshman outside hitter
Caitlin Shaw (Desoto, Texas) did it on both sides of the ball, if you will, as she hammered a match-high 13 kills while coming away with a team-best 13 digs. Freshman setter
Grace Tapscott (Hartselle, Ala.) dished out 24 assists and nearly had a double-double, finishing with nine digs along with a pair of service aces. Freshman outside hitter
Bailey Duckett (Huntsville, Ala.) added eight kills and freshman libero
Tammy Melendez Mondragon (Pelham, Ala.) registered eight digs.
In a rare occurrence, MVSU played just the minimum six players, a group that would be led by Torre Giron with eight kills and a match-high 14 digs. She was joined by Chardea Berthelot with 13 digs and Destini Banks with seven kills and five digs.
A&M returns to action on Sunday, October 2 when they host Bethune-Cookman at 12 p.m. before taking on defending Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament Champion Florida A&M a day later.
NOTES
The Bulldogs have now won 28 straight matches against the Delta Devils, dating to October 5, 2009 … that stretch includes 19 sweeps and has fueled a 30-4 advantage all-time.
