Sept. 26, 2007

Final Stats

Tallahassee, Fla. - Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman played it out on national television on Wednesday evening as the Rattlers knocked off the Wildcats in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference match by a score of 3-0 on an ESPNU event held at Gaither Gymnasium in Tallahassee, Fla. The Rattlers took the match on scores of 30-24, 30-14 and 30-18.

FAMU's (3-5, 1-0 MEAC) dominance of the MEAC continued for at least another game as the Rattlers ran their conference-record winning streak out to 92 matches on Wednesday evening.

B-CU fell behind 4-0 right at the start of the first game before rallying to hold at 9-7 midway through. Thanks in part to the efforts of freshman setter Julie Gibson and Danielle Goodrum, B-CU (2-6, 0-1 MEAC) was holding strong until the Rattlers' Jovana Blazeski and Cinthya Corzo took over down the stretch.

In the second and third games, MEAC Player of the Year hopeful Iva Lakic and freshman Blazeski were just too much for the young Wildcats to handle. Combining for 32 of the Rattlers' 50 kills on the night--as well as two (2) service aces, the Siberian duo was a heavy handful of power that FAMU head coach Tanio Trifanov has instilled throughout the years at FAMU.

B-CU's younger players fought hard from start to finish for head coach Vanessa Cogswell, who calls this year's team one of the best she's had in her four-year career with the Wildcats program.

MEAC Rookie of the Year hopeful Kaiyana Johnson and senior Keisha Vicks simply provided the spark for the `Cats, while fellow teammate Goodrum was another vital key in the kills department. Together, the three Wildcats combined for 21 of the 34 kills on the night for the maroon and gold machine from Daytona Beach.

In just her second start of the season as the setter, Gibson proved magical for B-CU with a team-high 26 assists, three kills and seven digs.

Also playing well for the `Cats was sophomore middle hitter Chelle Ticeson with five kills and two blocks, as well as Reina Carson with four kills and eight digs. Goodrum led the `Cats with 11 digs on defense.

FAMU was led by Lakic with 17 kills, while Blazeski finished just behind her with 15 kills of her own. Zaira Manzo led the Rattlers with 44 assists, while the defense was anchored by the efforts of libero Susan Egoavil with a match-high 21 digs.

This was the second nationally-televised event for the Wildcats since 2005 on ESPNU. In 2005, the `Cats faced the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in Princess Anne, Md. during the final round of the MEAC Round-up.

The Wildcats will be back in action again on Friday afternoon at South Carolina State beginning at 3 p.m. The match is set to take place at Smith-Hammond-Middleton Arena in Orangeburg, S.C.