(Courtesy of the Southwestern Athletic Conference)BATON ROUGE, La. - Alabama A&M knocked off Prairie View A&M 3-2 during an elimination match Saturday afternoon at the Horace Moody Complex. Set scores include: 25-23, 25-18, 27-25, 25-17 and 15-7.
Prairie View A&M Â (9-19) entered the elimination match after falling to Alabama State during match 4 and Alabama A&M now (13-19) was defeated by Southern University earlier today at the Cliford Seymour Gymnasium.
Prairie View's
Candyce Alexander led the match with a triple double, 16 kills, 24 assists and 11 digs. Alabama A&M's Kyanna Sales led the team in kills with a total of 26. Â Megan Butler recorded 46 assists and Ashundria McNeal led the team in digs with 20.
The first set of the match was back and forth action between both teams. Â The score was tied most of the set, but an error by Prairie View gave Alabama A&M a one point lead,16-15, forcing PVAM to take a timeout. A service error by Callie Percival tied the score once again, but the Bulldogs would not let that hinder them as they went on a 4-0 run, pushing the score 21-17. A massive kill from A&M's Kyanna Sales would put them only three points from a set victory, 22-18. Several errors by the Bulldogs would give the Panthers hope, cutting the lead to only one point. Following a service error from
Chandler Bacon would make it match point for Alabama A&M. Unexpectedly, Kyanna Sales would return a service error, but a kill from Ashundria McNeal would allow AAMU to take the first set win, 25-23.
Continuing with the second set, both teams proved to be determined for a win. Eventually, Prairie View would take a 10-5 lead. An error from the Bulldogs would give PVAMU a 23-16 lead. Â A double hit error from
Mariah Cox sends Alabama A&M to requesting a timeout to regroup with being down five points. The Panthers would not let up and went on to winning the second set 25-18.
Megan Butler started things off in the third set for the Bulldogs with a service ace. Â Alabama A&M lead by five points, 20-15, until Prairie View capitalized on their errors, cutting the lead, 20-18. A kill from
Candyce Alexander would tie the set 24-24. Â The teams rallied back and forth but an error from Sales would give the Panthers the win, 27-25.
Alabama A&M set the tone for the fourth set. Â They jumped out on PVAM with an 8-2 lead, causing Prairie View to take a timeout. Â After a blocking error from AAMU, the lead was cut to three points, 14-11, the Bulldogs way. Alabama A&M would go on to increase the lead to 20-12. Â After a kill, the Bulldogs would be up for set point. Robyn Hancock would produce a kill, claiming the set for Alabama A&M, 25-17.
The Bulldogs went on a 4-1 run starting the fifth and final set off. An error from PVAM would give AAMU a 15-7 final set victory eliminating Prairie View A&M from the 2014 Women's Volleyball Tournament.
ALABAMA STATE 3, PVAMU 0
Reigning East Champions, Alabama State University women's volleyball team (15-17) swept No. 4 seed Prairie View, 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-20) Saturday afternoon at the Horace Moody Complex.
Prairie View A&M got things started with a 5-1 start. The Hornets would not give in. Brooke Beasley answered momentarily with a kill, cutting the Lady Panther's lead 10-9. Â Shortly afterwards, Rachel Smith attacked the ball and provided another kill for Alabama State. Â Coming back from a timeout, ASU tied the score from an error by Prairie View. Â After an impressive block, the Hornets took the first lead of the set, 14-13. The momentum soon switched after a service ace from ASU's Myla Marshall. PVAMU wouldn't let that last long when
Candyce Alexander connected with the ball and produced a shocking kill, that tied the score for the fifth time during the first set. Â A block from the Hornets would put them up by two, 23-21, but an error would give the Panthers a point, forcing ASU to call a timeout to regroup. Alabama State returned with a kill, going for set point. Â With a block from Marshall, the Hornets would claim the first set, 25-21.
Going into set number two, PVAM would set the tone once again, causing ASU to make several errors. Â Briana Dorsey responded back for the Hornets with a kill and a block, putting them up by two points, 4-2. After a great rally back and forth, Alabama State's Amber Bennet ended it with a kill, tying the score 8-8. PVAMU would soon take the lead, 13-9. Â A service ace from Rachel Smith tied the score again at 15-15. Â ASU then took their first lead off an error from the Panthers and another service ace from Smith, pushing their lead by two , 17-15. Chelsey Scott stepped up and connected on three kills back to back giving the Hornets a 23-19 lead. A kill from Tiara Kelly would secure ASU the second set of the match.
Brooke Beasley got things started in the third set with a service ace and scoring the first three points for Alabama State. Â Briana Dorsey would soon lead the Hornets to set and match point after a kill. After a few errors from ASU, Prairie View looked to come from behind but ASU would not let that happen. Â A final kill from Kelly would assure the match for Alabama State University.
Beasley finished with 25 assists for ASU while
Paige Chuidian would lead PVAM with 17. Â Marshall had a hitting percentage of .692, the best of both teams.