Florida A&M Volleyball knocks off Mercer Bears

Macon, Georgia - The FAMU Lady Rattlers Volleyball team improved to 12-5 on the season as they defeated the Mercer University Bears of the Atlantic Sun Conference 3-2 (30-22, 32-34, 28-30, 30-22 and 15-9)this afternoon. The Bears put up a gallant battle and were led by sophomore Jen Darty who had a career-high 11 blocks and 11 kills for her first double-double of the season. Her efforts however, was not enough to overcome the strength of the Lady Rattlers as the Bears fell to 8-17 on the season.

For the Lady Rattlers, Jovana Blazeski and Iva Lakic led the way, tallying 27 and 26 kills, respectively. Five players recorded double-digit digs, led by Susan Egoavil with 28 and Zaira Manzo with 21. Manzo also dished out a match-high 65 assists to notch a double-double for FAMU. The Bears did have a good night at the net out-blocking the Lady Rattlers 18-6.

The Bears dominated early on in the first game of the match, taking a 10-3 lead over the Lady Rattlers, who were able to close within three to trail 14-11. Mercer then scored four consecutive points and extended it to a 10 point lead. FAMU freshman Jovana Blazeski took over when the score reached 27-17 and the Lady Rattlers went on a four point run. Several kills by Mercer's Drennan Dexheimer and an error by Blazeski provided the gift Mercer needed to win the first match 30-22.

The Lady Rattlers quickly re-focused and battled Mercer in game two with 24 ties, 10 lead changes and did enough to win the match 34-32.

FAMU jumped all over the Bears in game three taking a 15-5 lead, but let up on Mercer who climbed back into the contest with a 4-0 run, and 8-1 run to narrow the Lady Rattlers score to 29-28. A kill was converted by Lakic to take the win for FAMU 30-28 in the third set.

The Lady Rattlers played poorly in the fourth set, allowing Mercer to take a 12-9 lead, and after two runs by the Bears of 8-1 and 8-2, FAMU fell 22-30.

The Lady Rattlers took an early 6-2 lead in the final game and three straight kills by FAMU the lead. FAMU cruised to a 15-9 win giving the Lady Ratters the 3-2 victory for the contest.

“It wasn’t for lack of effort because we out-blocked and out-aced our opponent, but we were not disciplined enough to finished games every opportunity we had,” said Mercer Volleyball head coach Noelle Hughes. “It was a close, hard-fought match and we proved to ourselves once again that we can play with the best of them.”

The Lady Rattlers stars were: Cinthya Corzo, Maria Gomez,Zaira Manzo, Hannah Huckelmann,Jovana Blazeski, Iva Lakic, Susan Egoavil and Coach "Tony" Tanio Trifonov.

Photo: The Lady Rattlers celebrate their 96 match winning streak in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference over SCSU on Oct 19th.

FAMU next match is on the road at Austin, Texas facing the University of Texas at 6:00 p.m. ET. The Lady Rattlers next home contest is November 6, 2007, 6:00 p.m. in Tallahassee Gaither Gymnasium against the University of North Florida.


Volleyball Box Score

Florida A&M vs Mercer (Oct 30, 2007 at Macon, Ga.)


Florida A&M ATTACK SET SERVE SRVDEF BLOCK GEN
## Name GP K E TA PCT A SA SE REDIGBS BA BEBHE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 CORZO,Cinthya....... 5 4 0 13 .308 3 2 0 1 11 0 1 0 0
9 GOMEZ,Maria......... 5 11 6 22 .227 1 0 2 0 4 1 1 0 0
10 MANZO,Zaira......... 5 4 2 8 .250 65 0 1 0 21 0 4 0 4
12 UCKELMANN,Hannah.... 5 8 4 22 .182 0 0 0 0 4 0 4 0 0
15 BLAZESKI,Jovana..... 5 27 20 82 .085 1 1 1 0 20 0 0 1 0
16 LAKIC,Iva........... 5 26 12 72 .194 3 1 0 2 11 0 0 0 0
7 EGOAVIL,Susan....... 5 1 0 1 1.000 1 2 0 4 28 0 0 0 0
TEAM................ 1
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals.............. 5 81 44 220 .168 74 6 4 8 99 1 10 1 4

TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 6.0
Game K E TA Pct
1 16 11 50 .100 GAME SCORES 1 2 3 4 5 TEAM RECORDS
2 22 9 59 .220 Florida A&M......... (3) 22 34 30 22 15 12-5
3 19 9 45 .222 Mercer.............. (2) 30 32 28 30 9 8-17
4 14 13 47 .021
5 10 2 19 .421

Mercer ATTACK SET SERVE SRVDEF BLOCK GEN
## Name GP K E TA PCT A SA SE REDIGBS BA BEBHE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 HANSCH, Libby....... 2 0 1 11 -.091 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0
4 DARTY, Julie........ 5 16 6 41 .244 2 1 0 0 1 0 6 0 2
5 DORRIS, Karen....... 5 23 4 62 .306 3 1 1 2 8 0 3 1 0
8 JANSEN, Kelly....... 5 4 1 8 .375 55 1 1 0 11 0 6 0 7
11 DARTY, Jen.......... 5 11 2 29 .310 0 2 1 0 5 2 9 1 0
12 DEXHEIMER, Drennan.. 5 9 2 32 .219 1 1 1 0 10 0 0 0 0
3 VRVILO, Erica....... 2 1 2 8 -.125 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
7 TUCKER, Claire...... 5 0 1 1-1.000 1 0 1 1 25 0 0 0 0
9 GEBBEN, Chelsea..... 5 0 0 1 .000 2 1 2 2 8 0 0 0 0
14 DAVIS, Allison...... 5 0 0 0 .000 0 1 0 1 8 0 0 0 0
16 HURLEY, Krista...... 3 3 0 6 .500 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0
17 THOMAS, Autumn...... 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals.............. 5 67 19 199 .241 64 8 7 6 77 2 32 2 9

TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 18.0
Game K E TA Pct
1 15 1 44 .318 Site: Macon, Ga. (University Center)
2 20 6 57 .246 Date: Oct 30, 2007 Attend: 68 Time: 2:12
3 12 7 41 .122 Referees: Tim Meyers, Mark Prater
4 15 4 36 .306 Game 5-Yellow Card to FAMU Coach
5 5 1 21 .190