Florida A&M won its ninth consecutive Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) volleyball championship, defeating Maryland Eastern Shore in a 3-1 (25-17, 25-23, 20-25,25-23) win in the championship match Sunday in the Coppin Center on the campus of Coppin State (Md.) University.

The Lady Rattlers (17-8) won the first set 25-17 and battled the Lady Hawks (23-7) through the three remaining sets.

Up two sets, FAMU seemed to have the match under control.  But the Lady Hawks fought back, eventually taking a fast paced third set 25-20. In the fourth and deciding set tied at 22-all, a kill by Whitney Johnson along with two service errors and an attack error by UMES sealed the victory for the Lady Rattlers.

Jovana Blazeski, the 2009 Outstanding Performer, led Florida A&M with 16 kills and 13 digs. Senior Maria Gomez added a double-double of 15 kills and 12 digs.

"I'm really excited to be named the Outstanding Performer. I did not expect it, said Blazeski." "Our team practiced really hard and the win is a tribute to the hard work."

Head Coach Tony Trifonov was named the Outstanding Coach for the ninth straight year.

"When it's a championship game and a chance to represent your conference in the NCAA's it can be about nerves. Both teams played nervously in the beginning of the match, said Trifonov. "UMES has improved a lot and the conference as a whole is more competitive. It becomes harder every year to win the title."

Sophomore Christine Edwards and senior Whitney Johnson led the Lady Hawks with 21 and 13 kills respectively.  Senior Caylin Woodward added nine kills and 15 digs in the defensive effort.

"We knew coming into today, that we wouldn't get the amount of aces that we did with other competitors this season," explained Lady Hawks Head Coach Don Metil. "Coming out of the second set, we talked about doing two things: ball control and limiting serve errors. We only improved in one area." It is disappointing to leave the third time around; based on the one thing we could control- our serves."

With the victory, the Lady Rattlers earned the conference's automatic berth the NCAA Division I Volleyball Championship. Selections will be determined on Sunday, November 29 at 3 p.m. EST on ESPNews.  

For more information on the 2009 MEAC Volleyball Championship or other MEAC sponsored events, log on to www.MEACSports.com.

2009 MEAC Outstanding Performer
Jovana Blazeski, Florida A&M

2009 MEAC Outstanding Coach
Tony Trifonov, Florida A&M

2009 All-Tournament Team
Jovana Blazeski, Florida A&M
Kaiyana Johnson, Bethune-Cookman
Maria Gomez, Florida A&M
Whitney Johnson, Maryland Eastern Shore
Christine Edwards, Maryland Eastern Shore
Cassandra Joyner, Delaware State