Albany State wins 5th straight SIAC Volleyball Championship in dramatic fashion

November 11, 2005

Albany, GA – Albany State won their 5th straight SIAC championship in volleyball after beating the highly favored and #1 team in the SIAC, Paine, two straight matches, 3-0. The Lady Rams after losing a tough match yesterday to Paine in the Semi Finals bounced back today with three straight wins and two straight wins against Paine University in the Championship game. Paine had not lost the entire tournament and in order to win the title Paine would have to lose two straight games and they did lose all of their matches in today’s action in straight sets.

SIAC Volleyball Champions Albany State University

The first championship game was Albany State was on a roll, having defeated Kentucky State to face Paine again for the Championship they were already warmed up and hyped to take on the challenge. ASU dominated the first game winning easily 30-18. In the second game Paine tried to answer but a late rally could not thwart the inevitable which was another ASU win as the Lady Rams pulled away late 30-25. As the crowd grew and some rowdy Paine College fans stepped into the building Albany State fans begin to chant an Albany State chant and hyped the team more and with every kill and every dig the crowd got louder and louder. Which only hyped ASU up more as they took the third and decisive game 30-22, pushing the championship game to a second game (since Paine hadn’t lost they would have to lose twice to be eliminated in the double elimination format).

The second game was more of the same as the Lady Rams took a commanding lead winning the first game 30-23 and putting the Lady Lions back on their heels wondering what had happened and what happened to their team. Coach Selina Kohn tried to rally her troupes but her motivational speeches could not stop ASU as they took the game 30-24 and put Paine into a state of disbelief moving to the third game of the match. In the third game behind the play of regular season MVP Keisha Lucette, Paine tried to rally however ASU felt like it was their year as they gave everything they had and left it all on the court winning the third game and the Championship 32-30 in a nail bitter. This game put ASU into an elite class winning their 5th straight SIAC Tournament and also a automatic bid into the NCAA Regional Championships.

Coach Skinner of ASU stated “We really appreciate the SIAC for being a sponsor of such a great tournament and for allowing Albany State to be the host of this year’s competition. I am pleased with the performance of my team and I look forward to seeing what the upcoming weeks will bring as we move on to the NCAA Regional Championship. Our team is excited about winning this championship and also this is a great accomplishment to be able to coach for a school that can achieve such greatness as 5 straight Volleyball Championships. I look forward to representing the SIAC in the NCAA tournament and I know the SIAC will be happy with our performance.” ASU was lead by Amber Davis who was voted to the SIAC All Tournament Team as the Setter as well as Paris Straughter who was also named to the All Tournament team as well as gaining the honor of the Tournament MVP.

In other action earlier in the day Fort Valley fell to Kentucky State in 5 (3-2) games 30-27, 30-23, 26-30, 22-30 and 10-15 respectively. Kentucky State then advanced to the Loser’s Bracket Final to take on Albany State and ASU took that match in 4 games (3-1) with ASU winning out 24-30, 30-19, 30-22, and 31-29.

Albany State will await the NCAA Selection to see their will play next. Selections will be made Midnight on November 13, 2005. Please refer to www.ncaasports.com for bracket information and regional location.

Tournament MVP: Paris Straughter-Albany State University

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