FAMU's successful volleyball program faces uncertain future

Getting FAMU’s volleyball team into the NCAA tournament was one of coach Tony Trifonov’s goals, but not the way he did it with a short-handed roster. Trifonov had hoped to achieve even more along the way to reaching the national tournament a week ago. He had big plans before he found out that some of the players he was banking on wouldn’t be admitted.“We were thinking that we were going to have a top-25 team and be in a position to host a regional again like we did in 2004,” he said. “The MEAC shouldn’t have been a contention for us.

“Of course we were going to play the games, but we would have been heavy, heavy favorites. At it turned out, that wasn’t the case.” Five days after FAMU was eliminated from the NCAA tournament, Trifonov is facing a future of uncertainty. He isn’t sure if Barry transfer Samara Ferraz will regain one more year of eligibility for the time she sat out to have a son. If she doesn’t there is no telling whether he’ll find a replacement who would have the same immediate impact as Ferraz did when she joined the team this season.

Trifonov’s program is one that doesn’t generate revenue and it’s caught in the current budget crunch at FAMU. As a result, he can’t get the kind of money it would take to recruit and reload the Rattlers for next season.

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UF Gators Volleyball rolls FAMU Rattlers in NCAA first round

Friday night at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center had the feeling of a battle of the bands, when all of a sudden a good volleyball match broke out. UF defended its home court in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, knocking out Florida A&M 25-20, 25-21, 25-15. The Gators hit a gaudy .451, led by freshman Cassandra Anderson’s 10 kills on 11 swings. The team percentage was the best ever by a Gator squad in an NCAA match. “As a team, I feel like we passed well,” Anderson said. “Connecting with the setters helped a lot to get kills around the block. As a team, we brought it all together.”

FAMU kept things competitive on the court and off, with members of its Marching 100 band drawing cheers from the 1,550 fans in attendance during timeouts. The roars at times rivaled the sound during the game. Both bands stuck around 30 minutes after the match, volleying turns to work the crowd up. The Gators (26-3) got a scare early in the match, trailing 3-0 to start the first set and battling all the way through an 18-all tie. Despite 11 ties and three lead changes, Florida closed the set out by scoring seven of the final nine points.

The Rattlers (14-13) got six kills in the set from Samara Ferraz, who finished with a match-high 15 (.290 hitting).

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Pre-Game Notes
Post-Game Notes

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FAMU Volleyball gets set for NCAA's and UF Gators

TALLAHASSEE, FL - The Florida A&M University Women's Volleyball team will make their eighth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Division One Championships this weekend, as they take on the University of Florida in the first round of play on Friday, December 5 at the Stephen O'Connell Center. Match time will be 7:30 p.m. Florida A&M (14-12), recipient of an automatic tournament bid by winning the 2008 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship, will make their fourth straight appearance in Gainesville, and it will be the third time in five years that the Lady Rattlers will draw the University of Florida as an opening round opponent (2004, 2005, 2008).

Florida (25-3), ranked 14/12 in national polls, were winners of the Southeastern Conference title for the 18th straight year. They will be hosting opening round NCAA play for the 17th time in the last 18 years in Gainesville. Colorado State will face Florida International in Friday's 5 p.m. bout on Friday, prior to the FAMU-UF clash.
Friday's winners will play at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, with the winner of that second round match set to advance to regional play at Colorado State University.
























Lady Rattler Jovana Blazeski #4 battles Florida State in FAMU season opener.

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