PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas – No. 8 seed Bethune-Cookman opens its run in the 2023 Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Volleyball Tournament on Friday, Nov. 17, as the Wildcats face top-seeded and regular season champion Alabama State at 11 a.m. CT inside the William "Billy" J. Nicks Building on the campus of Prairie View A&M.
 
MATCH #28: Bethune-Cookman Wildcats vs. Alabama State Hornets
WHEN: Friday, Nov. 17, at 11 a.m. CT
WHERE: William "Billy" J. Nicks Building (Prairie View, Texas)
WATCH LIVE: SWAC Digital Network
TOURNAMENT BRACKET: Click Here
TICKETS: Click Here
 
IN THE RANKINGS
▪ Bethune-Cookman is not ranked in this week's AVCA Division I Coaches Poll Top 25
▪ Alabama State is not ranked in this week's AVCA Division I Coaches Poll Top 25
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
Keep up with everything Bethune-Cookman Volleyball this year by following the Wildcats on all their social media platforms. You can follow @BCUVolleyball on Instagram and @BCUVolleyball on Twitter.
 
NEWS & NOTES
▪ Niara Hightower was named the 2023 SWAC Blocker of the Year, after leading the league in blocks for the majority of the season.
▪ Hightower was also named to the All-SWAC Second Team.
▪ Freshman Mia Delahoussaye leads the Wildcats offensive attack with a team-best 183 kills (2.54 per set).
▪ Elizabeth Phillips (132 kills) and AJ Simmons (122 kills) are second and third on the squad in kills, respectively.
▪ Setters Alisha Callender (365 assists) and Madison Coates (275 assists) help "quarterback" the attack for the Maroon and Gold.
▪ Phillips has a team-best 23 service aces, followed by Callender with 20.
▪ Essence Bell headlines the defensive duties with 300 digs under her belt, averaging five digs per contest across the season.
▪ Hightower ended the regular season with a SWAC-best 107 blocks – finishing 30 ahead of the next highest blocks total in the league.
 
BCU VS. ALABAMA STATE SERIES
▪ Bethune-Cookman owns a 9-6 series lead against Alabama State in a series that dates back to October 6, 2000. The Wildcats won the first nine meetings in the series, with the last victory being a 3-0 defeat of the Hornets in 2010. Since joining the SWAC, the Hornets have taken all six meetings. The first meeting between the two sides this season was a 3-1 decision at Moore Gymnasium in Daytona Beach, with the second matchup being a sweep for the Hornets in Montgomery, Alabama.
 
SCOUTING THE HORNETS
▪ Alabama State was crowned regular season champion of the SWAC after registering a perfect 16-0 record throughout the conference season. Overall, the Hornets are 17-12 entering the tournament.
▪ A total of five players were named to the All-SWAC First & Second Teams for the Hornets.
▪ Jada Rhodes was tabbed SWAC Player of the Year, while Madison Beasley earned SWAC Setter of the Year accolades.
▪ ASU enters the tournament having won its last 16 matches on the bounce. The last loss for the Hornets was by way of a 3-0 decision away to Arizona on September 16.
▪ Rhodes has recorded a team-leading 308 kills, averaging 3.05 kills per set while hitting .217. Rhodes has also recorded 27 service aces and 167 digs this season. She has recorded 15 matches in double figures kills, including a season-high 22. She also has two of the best attack percentages in the conference this season.
▪ As for Beasley, she surpassed 2,100 career assists on the year. She became just the fifth player ever at Alabama State to register 2,000 assists this season, and joined the 1,500 assists, 500 dig, 100 service aces club – one of just three players to ever do so at Alabama State.
▪ Beasley recorded a team-leading 596 assists and currently averages 5.84 assists per set. Beasley has recorded double-figure assists in every match this season, including 20-plus assists in 12 matches.
▪ Temperance Chatman headlines the defense with 432 digs (4.24 per set).
 
LAST TIME AGAINST THE HORNETS
Bethune-Cookman freshman Mia Delahoussaye delivered a team-high 13 kills despite the Wildcats dropping a 3-0 decision away to Alabama State in a SWAC Volleyball match housed at Lockhart Gymnasium. Alabama State collected the win on set scores of 25-22, 25-22, 25-16, respectively.
 
Delahoussaye, a 6-foot-3, outside hitter from West Covina, California, registered her seventh double-digit kills performance of the 2023 campaign in the contest. The South Hills High alum hit at a .464 clip for the match, adding four digs and two solo blocks for the Maroon and Gold. Alabama State kept its record in league play unblemished as the Hornets used a match-high 18 kills from outside hitter Jada Rhodes, as she posted a team-high .536 hitting percentage to boot.
 
Bethune-Cookman pushed the Hornets all the way in the opening two sets. Delahoussaye placed five kills in the opener, while teammates Elizabeth Phillips and AJ Simmons added three kills apiece. In the second set, Delahoussaye recorded eight kills. But it would be ASU's Rhodes collecting nine kills to push the host Hornets over the line.
 
Madison Beasley had 29 assists for the Hornets. Meanwhile, BCU's Alisha Callender tallied 16 assists from her setter position. Essence Bell added 14 digs for the Cats, while libero counterpart Temperance Chatman posted a match-high 22.
 
A QUICK LOOK AT THE CATS
Record – 7-20 (.259) // SWAC Record – 7-9 (.438) // Last 5 Matches – 3-2 (.600) // Last 10 Matches – 4-6 (.400) // Last 15 Matches – 6-9 (.400)
 
UP NEXT
The winner of the Bethune-Cookman vs. Alabama State quarterfinal contest advances to face the winner of the No. 4 Alabama A&M vs. No. 5 Jackson State contest. The semifinal match is slated for Saturday, Nov. 18, at 2 p.m. CT.
 
Follow Bethune-Cookman Volleyball on Twitter (@BCUVolleyball) and Instagram (@BCUVolleyball) for all of the latest news and updates. For all Bethune-Cookman Athletics news, follow us on Twitter (@BCUAthletics), Instagram (@BCU_Athletics) and BCUathletics.com.