FAMU Lady Rattlers Nip Stetson In Tough Match

Courtesy: Stetson University

FAMU vs. Stetson Box Score

Tallahassee, FL – The Stetson volleyball team (0-2) battled hard Saturday morning against Florida A&M (1-1) but fell to the Rattlers in four sets. FAMU edged the Hatters three times by two points en route to a 26-24, 17-25, 25-23, 26-24 victory in the FSU Invitational at Tully Gymnasium.

The Hatters came back from a seven-point deficit midway through the first set to tie the score 24-24 on a kill from senior outside hitter Rebecca Orzechowicz (Miami, Fla.) but couldn’t get over the hump as Florida A&M scored the next two points for the win.

Set Two went much better for Stetson. Orzechowicz started the set with a kill and the Hatters never trailed en route to a 25-17 victory, finishing with a 7-2 run and a punctuating kill from junior right side Sarah Sears (Ashburn, Va.)
























FAMU Lady Rattlers Maria Gomez, OH 6-2 Jr. Guayaquil, Eucador/Nuevo Mundo.

Just as in the first set, the third and fourth stanzas saw the Rattlers just manage to hold off the Hatters. Down 8-3 early in Set Three, Stetson went on a 7-1 run to take the lead. Later, Stetson would go ahead 22-21 on an Orzechowicz kill and seemed poised to go ahead in the match, but FAMU once again snuck back ahead and won 26-24.

Set Four was a see-saw affair in which neither team had a lead of more than three points. Once again, the Hatters had a 22-21 lead they could not hold as FAMU’s Joanna Blazeski tallied kills for three of her team’s final four points and the Rattlers walked off the court with the victory.

Orzechowicz finished the match with a team-high 13 kills while freshman outside hitter Kaylee Ream (Venice, Fla.) had seven kills and just one error, hitting .273 in the process. Senior libero Melanie Boyer (New Holland, Ill.) recorded 19 digs while freshman setter Jennica Hagberg (Niceville, Fla.) gave the Hatters 33 assists and eight digs. Sears and junior middle blocker Laura Boyd (La Crescenta, Calif.) contributed six block assists each.

Blazeski had 23 kills and 18 digs to lead the Rattlers. Samara Ferraz had 19 kills while Maria Gomez (11 kills, 11 digs) joined Blazeski in the double-double category.

FAMU's Sept. 1st game with Tulane University was cancelled due to Hurricane Gustav landfall on the Louisiana Coast today.

Attendance: 136 (Capacity: 2,500) Lucy McDaniel Court at Tully Gym, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL

More Battle of the Bands - FAMU, NSU, Tenn St.

FAMU gets right back to work

Rattlers have short week with Thursday game at Delaware State

During the next three days, there will be plenty of cramming around the Galimore Fieldhouse, where Florida A&M plans its pre-game strategies. Following their 30-20 victory Saturday over Alabama State, the Rattlers have just 72 hours to prepare for Delaware State. FAMU's first opening day win in eight seasons comes at a cost, as coach Joe Taylor tries to ride the momentum into their meeting with the defending MEAC champions Thursday night.

The team will review its game plan today and then practice in Bragg Stadium. Their only practice in pads will take place Tuesday, followed by a light workout early Wednesday morning before traveling to Delaware later in the day. DSU didn't play Saturday and FAMU's game plan will be derived from film of the Hornets' spring game. "It puts a little more challenge into it and that's why I was saying last night about building on what happened," Taylor said.

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Taylor's special hunch on Vann pays dividends

FAMU coach's intuition results in 99-yard return

Somehow, Florida A&M football coach Joe Taylor knew LeRoy Vann had it in him. And when it mattered most, the junior delivered — in a big way. Vann's 99-yard kickoff return went a long way toward helping FAMU knock down Alabama State 30-20 in the season opener Saturday night.

Less than 30 seconds after the visiting Hornets tied the Rattlers 14-14 in the second quarter, Vann tore through the turf on Bragg Memorial Stadium behind a perfectly executed wedge for an explosive 99-yard touchdown dash. The score was one of those handful of plays that Taylor calls "game changers." It was a play that helped alter the momentum as FAMU went on to win 30-20. The win was Taylor's first as the new Rattlers head coach.

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Stillman rolls past short-handed Miles College

The Billy Joe Era at Miles College that was launched with such hope two weeks before Christmas got off to a dismal start on Sunday night at Legion Field.

The Golden Bears played without more than half their roster in a 38-12 loss to Stillman College before a crowd of 25,370. Joe said he found out on Saturday that he would be able to dress only 40 of his 85-man roster for the Labor Day Golden Classic due to concerns the Miles administration raised about eligibility issues.

"In my 31 years as a head coach," Joe said, "I've never, ever been confronted with that issue before. I thought our guys played a great game with their hands tied behind their backs. "We had to change our special teams around, our offense, our defense. We were very, very, very - how many `verys' can I use? - short." The new coaching staff held meetings with their players until late Saturday evening, making changes in the game plan.

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Attendance: 25,370 @ Legion Field, Birmingham, AL (Capacity: 83,091)

Hampton hangs on in Holmes' debut over JSU Tigers

The Pirates overcome a slugglish start to top Jackson State in their season opener.

ORLANDO, FL - Just 10 minutes after walking off the Florida Citrus Bowl field, a stunning 17-13 MEAC/SWAC Challenge win over Jackson State still dancing through his head, victorious first-year Hampton coach Jerry Holmes tried to hold back his smile as he sat down at the post-game news conference. That attempt was the first loss of his career. Coming off a disappointing 6-5 season and fourth-place finish in the MEAC, the former Bethel star led the Pirates to their third straight win over the Tigers.

Coach Jerry Holmes and the Pirates will face Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL on the road this Satudary at 6 p.m. CST.

"It's exciting," he said. "Especially to get that first leading lady on the schedule as you try to forge some momentum for the season. It's a great feeling." Hampton trailed 7-3 at the half, but used plays on both sides of the ball to take control. JSU got the opening kickoff in the second half and looked as if it was about to blow the game open after driving all the way to the Pirates' 6. But Hampton's Rasoul Wilson picked off Trae Rutland in the end zone to end the threat.

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Attendance: 10,723, Florida Citrus Bowl, Orlando, FL (Capacity: 74,635)

Bethune-Cookman seeking return to former glory

The team's progress last season and new players are generating excitement

DAYTONA BEACH -- Bethune-Cookman finished 5-6 for the second year in a row last season and lost two All-Americans, yet the feeling of urgency is not the same as a year ago. In fact, coach Alvin Wyatt seems pretty relaxed these days. Part of the reason was the way 2007 ended. The Wildcats won three of their last four games and put an exclamation point on the turnaround with a 34-7 trouncing of archrival Florida A&M in the Florida Classic. A win over FAMU has a way of soothing the alumni, even after two losing seasons.

Coach Alvin Wyatt will have an uphill battle to improve the Wildcats standings with improving programs at DSU, SCSU, NSU, Hampton, Morgan and FAMU.

''One of our problems last year was we were weak in the third and fourth quarter,'' Wyatt said. ``Once we got a full-time strength coach [Britt Patton] we began playing better football. We nearly won our last five games. We just had a mistake here and a mistake there. ''Against Winston-Salem, we were driving to win the game, but we [threw] an interception. Hampton, we had them on the ropes.''

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Season Opener: BCU (0-0) vs. Alabama State University (0-1), Saturday, 4:00 p.m. ET, September 6, 2008 @ Daytona Beach, FL Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 10,000) Radio Coverage: WELE 1380am and Game Tracker.