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Alabama A&M Bulldogs Bound for NCAA Volleyball TournamentNovember 11, 2000Pine Bluff, Ark. --The Alabama A&M volleyball team earned its first berth to the NCAA "Big Dance" by defeating Prairie View A&M 3-0 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Championship game at the Kenneth Johnson HPER Complex in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. The Bulldogs (31-2) were paced by tournament MVP Phatty Arbuckle who had 16 kills and eight digs in the championship game. Aiding her in the team's quest for the schools first conference title were All-Tournament performers Monica Thompson and De'Anna Hines. Thompson finished the game with 13 kills and 19 digs, charting her seventh double-double. Hines tossed in 10 kills and seven blocks. A&M put forth a balanced performance as setter Nikki Tilton finished the day with 39 assists and nine digs. Head coach Betty Austin was honored as Coach of the Year after guiding her team through an undefeated conference season (8-0) and an unmarred tournament performance as the Bulldogs defeated each of their four opponents in 3-0 sets. "This is a huge win for us," said Austin. "For so many years we worked hard and now in only our second year at the Division I level we can represent our conference and our school in the NCAA tournament. This sepeaks to the level of committment from our administrators for our kids and our program." Prairie View advanced to the Championship game after defeating Alcorn State in the loser's bracket 3-1 with scores of 15-9, 15-11, 12-15, 15-8. The Bulldogs will have to wait two weeks for the NCAA tournament pairings to be released. First round begins November 30 with the championship game set for December 16 in Richmond, Va.
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