Lady Rattlers takes easy win over Norfolk State

Photo: Coach Tony Trifonov provides instructions to volleyball team at last week game.

by FAMU Sports Information

FAMU goes to 2-0 in MEAC in win over Norfolk State

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The Florida A&M Volleyball team picked up their second Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference win of the season in a 3-0 romp of Norfolk State, Thursday evening at the Gaither Athletic Center in Tallahassee.

FAMU (4-5, 2-0 MEAC) made easy work of the Spartans winning game one, 30-12, and putting them away in games two and three winning 30-19.

Iva Lakic finished with a game high 13 kills, to lead the Lady Rattlers, while Jovana Blazeski added 10. Zaira Manzo led FAMU in assists with 34 and Blazeski finished with 14 digs.

NSU (4-12, 1-1 MEAC) was paced by Chantel Cherry with eight kills and 12 digs, followed by Heather Quinn with six. Solange Honore led the team in assist with 18.

The Lady Rattlers extended their Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference win streak to 93 matches.

The Lady Rattlers will travel to the Triad region this weekend, visiting Greensboro, N.C. on Saturday, Oct 6 taking North Carolina A&T and then will travel to Winston-Salem, N.C. on Sunday, Oct 7 taking on Winston-Salem State.

FAMU good enough for victory

By Heath A. Smith, DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

When it comes to conference play Florida A&M women's volleyball coach Tony Trifonov is not just looking for his team to win. With 91 consecutive MEAC victories heading into Wednesday's game against rival Bethune-Cookman, winning is not always good enough.

The Rattlers cruised to a 30-24, 30-14, 30-18 victory in their conference-opener, improving to 3-5 on the season. The game was aired on ESPNU in front of a crowd of almost 600 people at Gaither Gymnasium.

“We didn't play as well as I wanted them to play, but not many of my teams have played up to my expectations,” Trifonov said. “We played good enough to win. The kids were probably a little bit nervous about being on TV.”

The Rattlers just had too much offensive firepower for the Bethune-Cookman (2-6, 0-1). The duo of freshman Jovana Blazeski and senior Iva Lakic, both from Serbia, combined for 32 total kills.

Bethune-Cookman had 34 total kills. FAMU had 50 total kills and just 14 errors compared to 22 for Bethune-Cookman.

“We committed a lot of unforced errors,” Trifonov said. “We'll work on that and get better. We need to be a little bit more aggressive offensively. We don't have that killer instinct. We're not hitting the ball as hard.”

FAMU, behind four kills from Lakic, won the first game 30-24 but never really pulled away from the Wildcats.

Photo: FAMU's Jovana Blazeski earns one of her 15 kills in the Rattlers' sweep over Bethune-Cookman.

FAMU won the second game in more convincing fashion 30-14. Blazeski, who is playing with a torn ACL in her left knee, dominated that game with eight kills and just one error. Blazeski isn't expected to have surgery to repair the ACL until December.

“Her mobility is not all there,” Trifonov said. “She is playing with a lot of guts.” As if playing with a blown knee wasn't tough enough, Blazeski also took ball to the face in the second game.

“Volleyball can be physical, especially when someone hits you in the head,” said Lakic, interpreting for Blazeski. “She got hit in the head, but she is powerful and can survive” Lakic topped the freshman in the third and final games with nine kills, leading FAMU to 30-18 win.

“I didn't think that I played very good in this game,” Lakic said. “I saw that I had 17 kills and that was good. Coach wants us to get our percentages better individually and as a team."

PVAMU Volleyball undefeated in SWAC

PVAMU Sports Information

GRAMBLING, La.-The Prairie View A&M volleyball team improved their record to 8-9 after defeating Grambling State and Alcorn State on the road this past Friday in Grambling, La. PVAMU remains undefeated in conference play at 3-0, and currently sit atop the SWAC’s western division standings.

The first match of the doubleheader was against the GSU Lady Tigers. Grambling State remained competitive, pushing the match to four games. PVAMU took the first game 30-25, but the Lady Tigers rallied to win the second game 22-30. The Lady Panthers eventually prevailed, in the third and fourth games with a hard fought 30-27 victory in the third game, and a convincing 30-19 win in last game.

PVAMU had 21 total team blocks versus Grambling State’s 14.5. PVAMU’s Tacho Richard led all players with 13 kills, senior Tamika Newman was right behind her with 12. The Lady Panther’s Laura de la Fuente compiled a game high 31 assists.

In the second match, PVAMU faced Alcorn State. The Lady Panthers quickly defeated the Lady Braves, shutting them out in three games, 30-18, 30-15, and 30-9. PVAMU’s Newman had a game high 11 kills, and fellow teammate de la Fuente compiled 17 assists.

Prairie View A&M will now head back on the road to face the Arkansas Pine-Bluff Lady Golden Lions. The Lady Panthers will finish off the week with a home game versus Southern this Friday, Sept. 27. Game time has been set for 6:00 p.m. at the William Nicks Building.