ITTA BENA, Miss. – Ktyal Price led Bethune-Cookman with 10 kills Friday evening as the Wildcats cruised to a 3-0 win over Mississippi Valley State, 3-0 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) opener for both teams inside R.W. Harrison HPER Complex. B-CU earned the win on scores of 26-24, 25-19, 25-13.
 
Bethune-Cookman (4-9, 1-0 SWAC) led 18-13 in the opening set following a service error from the hosts. However, Mississippi Valley State fought back to tie the set at 18-all with the help of two Ashlynn Hawkins service aces coupled around a B-CU attack error.
 
MVSU (1-7, 0-1 SWAC) would eventually take a 23-22 lead when Lyric Edwards combined with Brooklyn Brunt at the net for a block. But four of the next five points would go the way of the Wildcats using a Niara Hightower kill, as well as back-to-back kills from Ktyal Price and Jasmine Robinson to close out the set win for the Maroon and Gold.
 
As a team, Bethune-Cookman hit .310 in the opening set, using four kills from Price on five swings. Hightower also provided three kills in the process.
 
The second set was tight early-on as the Delta Devilettes raced out to an 8-5 lead on the strength of a Carrington Aarcher service ace, in addition to two (2) service errors credited to B-CU. But the Cats used blocks by Hightower and Robinson to go along with a set error by MVSU's Taylor Wooten to knot the set at 8-8. Amya Jennings recorded a kill, while Price and Jennings combined for a block, allowing the Cats to step ahead 15-11, forcing an MVSU timeout.
 
Jennings would score three more kills in the set – allowing her four overall in the frame, while Robinson and Hightower each finished with three individually. That allowed B-CU the 25-19 win to lead the match, 2-0.
 
The third and final set was a steady dose of B-CU's Price, with the redshirt senior from Robbinsdale, Minnesota, recording a perfect 5-for-5 hitting performance to go along with one service ace.
 
For MVSU, the Delta Devilettes were paced on the night by outside hitter Alaya Rhodes and her 11 kills, two assists and one block (assisted). Setter Mikayla Lee finished with a match-high 19 assists. Mariana Franco, the team's libero, closed with a match-high 13 digs.
 
The visitors were topped offensively by a career-high hitting mark from Price, as she ended the match with 10 kills on 11 attacks and zero (0) errors for a .909 hitting clip. Jennings finished with seven kills, while Hightower turned in three blocks (two assisted). Robinson also had six kills on the night with two servicer aces and five digs from her outside hitter position. At the setter position, it was freshman Nola Hemphill supplying 14 assists, and it was senior Alisha Callender with 13. Jennings led all Wildcats with eight digs.
 
Bethune-Cookman continues its road swing in the "Magnolia State" on Sunday, Sept. 29, as the Cats travel to Jackson State for a match scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. ET.
 
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