Albany State Lady Rams win 2002 SIAC Volleyball Championship

The Albany State University Lady Rams Volleyball team defeated the Paine College Lady Lions, 3-0, and won their second consecutive Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) volleyball title. The Lady Rams upset Paine by winning all three games with scores of 30-18, 30-23 and 30-24 in the final match.

ASU sophomore Janel Herring, named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, led the Lady Rams with 18 kills and junior teammate Sandra Boyd added 10 kills and two digs. Freshman Kierra Washington recorded eight kills and eight digs. Junior Adrienne Danner, who was also named to the SIAC All-Tournament Team, added four kills.

The Lady Rams cruised through the 2002 tournament in easy victories over the Clark Atlanta University Lady Panthers, Fort Valley State University Lady Wildcats and Kentucky State University Thorobrettes.

In their first match, the Lady Rams upset Clark Atlanta, 3-0, with game scores of 30-18, 30-13 and 30-19. Herring and Boyd led the Lady Rams with 13 and 12 kills, respectively. The Lady Rams had little difficulty advancing in the tournament as they tamed the FVSU Lady Panthers, 3-0, in their second match. Led by Herring, who racked up 17 kills, and Danner, who recorded 11 kills, the Lady Rams won 30-23, 30-12 and 30-8.

The Lady Rams and the Thorobrettes, both undefeated in regular season SIAC play and in the tournament, met in the quarterfinal game. In a three-game sweep, the Lady Rams defeated the Kentucky State 30-26, 30-13 and 30-23 to advance to the final game. The dynamic duo of Herring and Boyd led the Lady Rams with 13 kills each, and Danner added 10 kills.

In addition to being named the SIAC Tournament's Most Valuable Player, Herring was also named to the 2002 All-SIAC Volleyball First Team. Herring recorded 455 kills during the season, including 61 kills during the tournament. Also named to the All-SIAC first team were junior Erica Nepote, who won the Setter-of-the-Year award, and freshman Deanna Davis. Nepote posted 1,012 season assists, with 151 assists during the tournament. Davis recorded 132 kills during the season.

Others athletes named to the All-SIAC team were Germaletta Dyson of Paine College, Litrece Hurn of Lane College and Maria Joseph of Kentucky State. Dyson and Joseph were also named to the All-Tournament team. Others named to the All-Tournament team include Ameesha Hatch of Clark Atlanta and Geri Cromer of Fort Valley State. Kisha Lucette of Paine College won the Hustle Award.

Coach-of-the-Year honors went to ASU's Robert Skinner, who said he is proud of the 2002 team.

"I am extremely proud of this Lady Rams team," said Skinner, who was coached three SIAC championship teams. "These athletes worked hard to get to this point - their second consecutive championship. They maintained a perfect conference record and conducted themselves like true winners."

Skinner and the Lady Rams will make an appearance in the NCAA Division II Regional Volleyball Championships later this month. "We have won the SIAC championship and we will celebrate, but we still have a long way to go," the coach said. "We will face some tougher teams in regional play. We'll be back in practice Monday preparing for the challenges of the regional tournament."

The Lady Rams have 20-12 overall and 12-0 SIAC records.

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