LIVINGSTON, Ala. – The Albany State University women's volleyball team split a pair of matches Tuesday at the UWA Invitational inside Pruitt Hall, bouncing back from an opening-match loss to West Alabama with a dominant straight-set victory over U.S. Sports University.
The Lady Golden Rams fell to host West Alabama, 3-0, before responding with a 3-0 sweep of U.S. Sports University to improve to 5-4 on the season.
Game 1: West Alabama 3, Albany State 0
Albany State opened the invitational against West Alabama, falling in straight sets by scores of 25-16, 25-12 and 25-15.
Shaniya Banks provided the spark offensively for the Lady Golden Rams, leading the team with nine kills on 16 attacks while committing just one error for an impressive .500 hitting percentage. Banks also added two block assists and finished with a team-high 10 points.
Aleiah Carr added four kills, while Maya Ogbogu, Serenity Jackson, Jarianis Perez and Amiria Anderson each finished with two. Ogbogu contributed a solo block, a block assist and a service ace.
Trinity Britt paced the offense with 15 assists and tied Perez for the team lead with eight digs. Liannette Burgos added five assists and four digs, while Myra Lopez recorded six digs and a service ace.
The Lady Golden Rams finished the match with 23 kills, 21 assists, four service aces, 37 digs and five total blocks while hitting .095 as a team. Albany State's best offensive performance came in the second set, when it hit .156.
West Alabama finished with 44 kills and hit .340 for the match to improve to 8-1.
Game 2: Albany State 3, U.S. Sports University 0
Albany State responded in a big way in its second match of the day, sweeping U.S. Sports University 25-15, 25-20 and 25-16. The victory pushed the Lady Golden Rams back above .500 at 5-4 on the season.
The Lady Golden Rams turned in one of their strongest offensive performances of the young season, recording 30 kills with only nine attack errors on 60 attempts for a .350 hitting percentage. Albany State came out firing in the opening set, hitting .533 with 10 kills and only two errors before closing the match with an .400 hitting percentage in the third set.
Jarianis Perez and Carr led a balanced Albany State attack with six kills apiece. Perez hit .417 and made her presence felt from the service line with four aces, finishing with a team-high 10 points. Carr hit .385 and added two block assists and four digs.
Banks followed with five kills and three block assists, while Ogbogu was perfect offensively, putting down four kills on four attempts for a 1.000 hitting percentage. Amiria Anderson added three kills on six attempts for a .333 percentage, while Serenity Jackson recorded two kills on four swings without an error.
Britt once again led the Lady Golden Rams in assists, finishing with 15 to go along with seven digs and four service aces. Burgos contributed six assists, while Lopez added four assists and an ace.
Albany State also applied pressure from the service line throughout the match, finishing with 12 aces. Perez and Britt accounted for four apiece, while Jaelynn Brown added two and Lopez and Gabby Moore each recorded one.
Albany State will now turn its attention to the Warhawk Invitational in Montgomery, Alabama, as the Lady Golden Rams look to build off their strong finish in Livingston and carry that momentum into their next tournament.
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ABOUT ALBANY STATE ATHLETICS
Albany State University is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II-level intercollegiate athletic program. The university currently fields teams in 12 sports: women's volleyball, women's tennis, women's cross country, men's and women's basketball, softball, men's and women's indoor and outdoor track and field, baseball, and football, with all teams competing in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC).
