Soriano sparks Lady Rattlers’ sweep of NCCU
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Freshman Pamela Soriano slammed down a season 21 kills to help spark the FAMU Women’s Volleyball team to their fifth straight match victory, a 3-0 (25-23, 25-14, 25-19) win over visiting North Carolina Central at Tully Gymnasium on the Florida State campus Friday evening.
Friday’s win kept the Lady Rattlers (5-10, 3-0 in MEAC) perfect in Southern Divisional play in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, while NCCU (0-19, 02) remained winless on the season.
Soriano, a two-time MEAC Rookie of the Week, and junior Yeshia Arcia, the MEAC Player of the Week two weeks ago, combined for 31 kills (Arcia had 10), aided by junior Ginna Lopez-Chavez with six kills.
Joanie Del Castillo led FAMU with 19 digs, while Valeria Lopez dished out 36 assists.
FAMU’s win didn’t come easy, as NCCU took advantage of Lady Rattler miscues to push the opening set to the edge, 25-23. The second set saw FAMU play more assertively, winnign 25-11, but the third set saw NCCU take a 3-0 lead before FAMU rallied behind Soriano and Arcia, with Soriano’s sizzling return at 24-19 providing the exclamation point.
Kelsey Murphy led NCCU with eight kills, followed by Denni Johnson with seven
FAMU returns to the Al Lawson Center Sunday to face North Carolina A&T at 4:00 p.m., and they will close their home conference schedule next Friday against Bethune-Cookman at 7:00 p.m.
For complete story, visit www.famuathletics.com or www.nccueaglepride.com
Hornets shut out by Highlanders in Non-Conference Match
DOVER, Del. --- New Jersey Tech posted a .415 hitting percentage in a 3-0 win over Delaware State in a non-conference match in Memorial Hall this evening.
The scores were 25-22, 25-21 and 25-17.
NJIT (5-13) collected 42 kills and eight errors on 82 attacks in the contest. The Hornets (0-12) tallied 27 kills and 15 errors on 78 attacks for a .154 hitting percentage.
NJIT’s Nina Vukotic led all players with 11 kills, while her sister Danica posted 10 winners. Alyssa Armada assisted on 34 of the Highlanders’ 42 kills.
Jasmine Jackson and Nevershi Ellis led Delaware State with seven kills each. Natalia Mendieta had a team-high 13 assists, while Ayanna Lee led all players with 10 digs for the Hornets. Lee has reached double-figures in digs in two of the last three matches.
The Hornets will remain at home for their next contest, a MEAC match against Morgan State on Sunday (Oct. 5). Start time is 1 p.m. in Memorial Hall.
For complete story, visit www.dsuhornets.com
Simon and Turner lead Lady Wildcats past Lady Aggies
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Rhea Simon had 19 kills and 13 digs, and Lauren Turner added a career-high 12 kills as Bethune-Cookman defeated North Carolina A&T 3-2 (25-15,22-25,252-3,22-25,15-11) in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference match Friday night in Historic Moore Gym.
Normarie Rolon posted a 24 digs, and had a three –point service run to start a fifth set in which the Lady Cats (5-13 overall, 3-0 MEAC South) never trailed.
The Aggies (1-17,1-1) cut B-CU’s four-point lead to one on three occasions, the last a 12-11, but Hazel Ortiz Rosado (42 assists, two service aces, seven digs) registered blocks on two of the final three points to give B-CU the victory.
Simon had her third double-double of the season, while Turner hit .407.
Destiny Hudson registered seven of her eight kills in the final two sets, and Delicia Pierre added seven kills.
Aleena McDaniel led the Aggies with 17 kills and 10 digs.
For complete story, visit www.bcuathletics.com or www.ncataggies.com
Hampton notches comeback five-set win at Coppin State
BALTIMORE, Md. – Despite being down two sets to none Friday evening, the Hampton University volleyball team stormed back to take a 3-2 (22-25, 22-25, 25-19, 25-21, 15-10) win over Coppin State at the Physical Education Complex.
The Lady Pirates (8-8, 3-0 MEAC) have won 10 of their last 17 matches to go five sets.
Senior Vendula Strakova led three Lady Pirates in double figures in kills with 27, hitting .451 for the match and recording 11 digs for her 10th double-double of the season. Senior Krista Kraskura racked up her eighth double-double with 14 kills and 11 digs.
Senior Sonja Maksimovic added 15 kills and 10 digs for her third double-double.
The Lady Pirates held a 12.0-8.0 edge in blocks; redshirt freshman Kennedy Kenney tied her season high with 6.0 total blocks, and senior Marija Kocevska added 4.0 total blocks.
Hampton hit .362 (67 kills, 16 errors in 141 attacks) for the match.
Hampton has won three straight matches, and dating back to last season, the Lady Pirates have won eight straight matches against MEAC Northern Division foes (including conference tournament matches).
Fans also witnessed history as Coppin State senior Ariel Richard became the program’s all-time leader in kills. Richard needed five kills to surpass Brittany Arvin’s previous standard of 1,079. She finished with 16 kills to raise her career total to 1,091. She has hit for double-digit kills 56 times during her career. Richard’s record-setting kill occurred late in the second set. It gave the Eagles a 22-17 edge.
Leading Coppin State in kills was junior Cindy Okpegbue, who had 25 along with a .365 attack percentage. It was her second consecutive match finishing with at least 20 kills. During the match, Okpegbue passed Candis Johnson and Shauniece Stewart to move into third place all-time with 752 career kills.
Freshman Maya Horner delivered a career-best 14 kills with a .345 hitting percentage. Horner had five of Coppin State’s 14 kills in the first set.
Coppin State’s Chelsee Sauni collected 52 assists and had nine digs. She has 2,457 career assists and continues moving closer to Krystal Williams’ current program mark of 2,497. Defensively, the Eagles were led by Gabrielle Otero’s 15 digs and Kendra Ireigbe’s five blocks.
The Lady Pirates will return to Holland Hall on Sunday to take on Howard at 3 p.m.
For complete story, visit www.hamptonpirates.com or www.coppinstatesports.com
Hawks swept by Bison in road conference match
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two days after a tough three set losses against American, the Hawks volleyball squad hoped for a better outcome against MEAC competition in a matchup versus Howard. This trip to the nation’s capital was not much more forgiving than the first as the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) dropped the match in straight sets. The Hawks head back to Princess Anne with an 8-9 record (1-1 MEAC) while the Bison jump over the .500 mark overall with a 9-8 record (2-0 MEAC).
This crucial early conference bout saw its most tense moments occur in the second set. After Howard took the opening set, 25-17, the Bison sought to deliver another convincing set win. It looked as though that might happen as Howard withheld a couple small UMES rallies to push the score to 15-8. Then freshman Alana Polk delivered a kill, and a second kill from sophomore Haley Robinson saw the Hawks draw closer.
When HU pushed the lead back to seven at 19-12, UMES got another key kill from Robinson to regain the serve. Five straight points would bring the Hawks back, thanks to a kill, solo block and block assist by Polk and a kill and block assist from junior Ashley Smith (Huntley, Ill.). After trading off points, an ace by sophomore Sonia Rosales tied the set at 22 apiece.
A service error by the Bison negated a two point set win of 25-23 and forced extra time, where neither team wanted to budge. Smith kept the Hawks alive with two kills early, but Howard got a kill from Katherine Broussard to deny UMES a two set win and re-tie the match at 28. Freshman Kirstin Fink registered a kill to drive the score to 30-29, but Whitney Fields brought the Bison back again. When Howard tied it again at 32, they benefited from two Hawk attack errors to take the set by a final of 34-32, officially ending the longest set for the Hawks this season.
Howard rode the momentum of winning the long set into set three, immediately rattling off three points to take an early lead. UMES would rally a couple of times to bring their deficit to three points again, but the Hawks would get no closer. A 25-20 Bison set win ended the match, sending the Hawks home 1-2 on the road trip with a victory over Delaware State and a loss to American.
Smith was the lone Hawk in double figures in kills with eleven, followed by Fink who had six. Both Fink and sophomore Precious Manu tied for the team lead in digs with ten, and Smith, Manu and Rosales each contributed an ace.
UMES returns home this Sunday for a matinee MEAC matchup with the Eagles of Coppin State. Admission is free to the 3:00 p.m. contest at the Hytche Center.
For complete story, visit www.umeshawks.com or www.hubison.com