Tuesday, November 6, 2007

FAMU Volleyball falls to Texas 3-0

The Florida A&M University Volleyball Team got an early introduction to what they can expect in the NCAA Volleyball Tournament as they faced NCAA #3 ranked Texas Longhorns in Austin on November 2, 2007. The Rattlers were competitive but were soundly beaten by a superior team with quality depth, before 1457 Texas fans. The Rattlers were led by Hannah UCKELMANN, Jovana BLAZESKI and Iva LAKIC, in defeat.

Texas has won 14 consecutive contests since their opening Big 12 loss on September 12, 2007, at #1 ranked Nebraska.

The experience should benefit the Lady Rattlers as they sharpen their play for the upcoming Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and NCAA volleyball tournaments. FAMU will be competing for their 7th consecutive MEAC title and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA volleyball tournament. Rattlers coach Tanio "Tony" Trifonov will be seeking the 10th overall MEAC title for FAMU and his 8th title as the FAMU head coach. He's done an incredible job and is very,very impressive as a coach and recruiter, and runs the FAMU program the right way. Trifonov should be named NCAA volleyball coach of the decade, if such a list exists.

The Texas loss ends the Lady Rattlers string of 12 consecutive victories, who were last defeated by Tulane on September 15, 2007, in Tempe, Arizona at Crowne Plaza Phoenix Airport Classic.

The FAMU Lady Rattlers are scheduled to return to non-conference action on November 6, 2007, against the University of North Florida at 6:00 p.m. in Gaither Gymnasium, Tallahassee, Florida. The Rattlers final conference match for the regular season is scheduled for November 10, 2007, at 5:00 p.m., at South Carolina State University, Orangeburg, S.C.

FAMU Volleyball is in great hands with Rattlers coach Tanio "Tony" Trifonov. Iva Lakic, #16 is a senior MB from Valjevo, Serbia, Valjevo High School.

Looking ahead, the Lady Rattlers will be defending their conference championships and 96+ consecutive winning matches in the MEAC, at the MEAC Volleyball Tournament on November 16-17, at Holland Hall (Hampton University) Hampton, Virginia and will closeout the regular season with a non-conference match at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida on November 21, at 12:00 p.m.

-beepbeep
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by University of Texas Media Relations

AUSTIN, Texas -- The No. 3 Texas Volleyball team used three double-digit kill performances, including a 14-kill effort by sophomore opposite hitter Ashley Engle to edge Florida A&M, 3-0 Friday night at Gregory Gymnasium.

The Longhorns 30-21, 30-20, 30-20 victory moved UT to 18-3 on the year and 13-1 in Big 12 play, while FAMU fell to 12-6 on the season. Texas out-hit Florida A&M .366-to.132 on the night and out-blocked the Rattlers 13-to-3.

Engle led the Texas attack, notching 14 kills on .462 hitting and adding eight digs, five total blocks and a service ace. Sophomore outside hitter Destinee Hooker posted a team-high 17 kills on .361 hitting, while junior middle blocker Lauren Paolini totaled 13 kills and recorded just one attack error.

In game one, Hooker paced the Texas charge, posting eight kills on 14 swings and leading a 7-0 UT run that gave the Horns an early 9-3 advantage. The Longhorns did not lead by more than six until late in the game when Paolini and Hooker led Texas on a 4-0 run that moved the margin to 29-20. Hooker recorded two kills during the rally and Paolini recorded one kill before teaming with Hooker on a block that setup game-point. Paolini's fourth kill of the game closed out the first frame and gave UT a 30-21 win.

Engle came on strong for Texas in the second stanza, highlighting a 5-0 run that blew open the game and gave the Longhorns a 16-7 edge. The Rattlers battled back to close the lead to five points, however, four kills by Engle down the stretch allowed Texas to stretch the lead back to eight at the 26-18 mark. Florida A&M added two more points, but the Horns closed out the second game at the 30-20 mark on a block by Paolini and senior setter Michelle Moriarty.

The Longhorns took advantage of a series of early kills by Paolini in the third frame, claiming a 14-6 lead on her fourth kill of the game. Senior outside hitter Jen Christian came on late in the game, connecting for three kills to help Texas push its lead to as many as 10, but the Rattlers narrowed the lead to seven at the 27-20 mark, but three straight UT blocks, including junior outside hitter/defensive specialist Kiley Hall's first career block closed out the third game, 30-20.

Moriarty steadied the Texas attack on the night with 53 assists and 12 digs, marking her seventh assist/dig double-double of the season. Paolini led the Longhorns offense with a .545 attack mark and paced the defense with a career-best 10 total blocks. Senior libero Alyson Jennings headlined Texas with 13 digs in the victory and freshman outside hitter Juliann Faucette added 11 digs of her own.

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POSTGAME QUOTES

Volleyball head coach Jerritt Elliott, University of Texas

General Comment: It was good to play a non-conference match against someone who is probably going to win their conference. We were definitely not firing on all cylinders tonight, and I don't know if it was that we weren't inspired or not motivated or what exactly was effecting us. The thing that I look at as a coach is the habits and the mentality that we come into the match with. I felt like we could have played at a higher level and that we could have been smoother, but again, the bottom line is that we were able to find a "W". Our blocking numbers were solid and I felt like we did a better job in game three after we had talked things over at the break, and there is a positive to that.

On adjusting to Florida A&M: They played a really deep perimeter and they left open the tips. Our players decided to continue to hit until game three when we started tipping and scoring which made things pretty easy. There are defenses for each system and you have to be able to adjust and make those adjustments.

On playing Florida A&M: We didn't know what we would get from Florida A&M. We just know that they usually dominate their opponents and they have a lot of foreigners. In the past, they have been a really strong NCAA team, so we felt that this team was going to win their conference and give us an opportunity to do work on some things and stay fresh.

On what they expected from Florida A&M and how they lived up to those expectations: Well we really didn't have any film on Florida A&M, so we didn't really know what they were going to come out with. We knew that they set to the outside a lot, but that's all we had to go on. Serving wise we knew not to serve to the libero, because she was passing really well. Offensively we just tried to find the holes and place the ball to score. I think we were surprised on both sides. I think we were surprised at how we were playing, and also how they were handling themselves. We could have played better, and they were stepping up their game for us.
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Volleyball Box Score
2007 Longhorn Volleyball
Florida A&M vs #3 Texas (Nov 02, 2007 at Austin, Texas)

Florida A&M ATTACK SET SERVE SRVDEF BLOCK GEN
## Name GP K E TA PCT A SA SE REDIGBS BA BEBHEPOINTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 CORZO,Cinthya....... 3 2 0 11 .182 1 0 0 2 8 0 0 0 0 2.0
9 GOMEZ,Maria......... 3 2 3 8 -.125 0 0 1 0 2 1 1 1 0 3.5
10 MANZO,Zaira......... 3 2 0 6 .333 28 1 1 0 10 0 0 1 0 3.0
12 UCKELMANN,Hannah.... 3 6 0 11 .545 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 6.5
15 BLAZESKI,Jovana..... 3 12 8 42 .095 0 1 1 0 14 0 1 2 0 13.5
16 LAKIC,Iva........... 3 10 7 43 .070 1 0 0 2 5 0 1 0 0 10.5
7 EGOAVIL,Susan....... 3 0 0 0 .000 1 0 1 2 10 0 0 0 0 0.0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals.............. 3 34 18 121 .132 33 2 4 6 50 1 4 5 0 39.0

TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 3.0
Game K E TA Pct Sideout Pct
1 11 7 47 .085 15-29 51% GAME SCORES 1 2 3 TEAM RECORDS
2 11 3 33 .242 16-30 53% Florida A&M......... (0) 21 20 20 12-6, 6-0 MEAC
3 12 8 41 .098 15-29 51% Texas............... (3) 30 30 30 18-3, 13-1 Big 12

Texas ATTACK SET SERVE SRVDEF BLOCK GEN
## Name GP K E TA PCT A SA SE REDIGBS BA BEBHEPOINTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Faucette, Juliann... 2 7 3 21 .190 1 0 2 1 11 0 1 0 0 7.5
3 Paolini, Lauren..... 3 13 1 22 .545 1 2 1 0 5 2 8 0 0 21.0
4 Moriarty, Michelle.. 3 1 0 3 .333 53 0 0 0 12 0 2 0 2 2.0
8 Doris, Jennifer..... 3 6 2 11 .364 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 6.0
10 Engle, Ashley....... 3 14 2 26 .462 1 1 2 0 8 1 4 0 0 18.0
21 Hooker, Destinee.... 3 17 4 36 .361 0 1 2 0 3 0 1 4 0 18.5
9 Klein, Chelsey...... 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0.0
11 Hall, Kiley......... 2 0 0 0 .000 0 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 2.0
12 Lewis, Alexandra.... 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0
13 Christian, Jen...... 2 4 2 12 .167 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 5.0
16 Jennings, Alyson.... 3 0 0 0 .000 0 1 0 0 13 0 0 0 0 1.0
Team................ 1 0.0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals.............. 3 62 14 131 .366 56 6 9 2 56 5 16 5 2 81.0

TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 13.0
Game K E TA Pct Sideout Pct
1 20 6 46 .304 16-22 72% Site: Austin, Texas (Gregory Gymnasium)
2 22 5 42 .405 16-20 80% Date: Nov 02, 2007 Attend: 1457 Time: 1:26
3 20 3 43 .395 16-21 76% Referees: Richard Bleau, Debbie Stanford

1 2 3 Total
Tie scores 3 3 1 7
Lead changes 3 1 0 4


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