BCSP Notes . . .
FAMU wins eighth straight volleyball title
Florida A&M won its eighth consecutive Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference volleyball championship, surviving Maryland Eastern Shore in a 3-2 (17-25, 25-15, 23-25, 31-29, 15-10) win in the championship match Sunday in Holland Hall, on the campus of Hampton University.
The Lady Hawks (25-9) appeared to have the match won, up two games to one and leading late in the fourth set 22-19. But the Lady Rattlers fought back, eventually taking the marathon set 31-29. In the fifth and deciding set tied at 10-all, a kill by FAMU and two attack errors by UMES put the Lady Rattlers up 13-10. After a service ace from FAMU's Jovana Blasezki and a timeout by UMES, Samara Ferraz, the 2008 MEAC Tournament Outstanding Performer, recorded a kill to end the set at 15-10 and seal the victory.
Blazeski led Florida A&M (14-11) with 30 kills, while Ferraz recorded 25. Maria Gomez was the third Lady Rattler to record double-digit kills, ending up with 13. Susan Egoavil had 69 of Florida A&M's 74 assists, while Blazeski added a team-high 16 digs for a double-double performance. Cinthya Corzo added 14 digs on defense, while Gomez also had a double-double, recording 13 digs.
Head Coach Tony Trifonov was named the Outstanding Coach for the eighth straight year.
"It feels awesome to win the title with this team due to the adversity and injuries we have had this year," said Trifonov. "The girls played with a lot of heart and we pulled out two five-game sets this tournament so we are really lucky."
Samantha Chukwura and Christine Edwards, the MEAC Rookie of the Year, each led the Lady Hawks with 15 kills, while Chukwura had a team-high .778 attack percentage. Thonya Joseph added 13 kills, while Whitney Johnson recorded 10. MEAC Player of the Year Christina Estebane recorded 54 of UMES's 59 assists, while also recording a team-high 20 digs. Caylin Woodward added 15 digs on defense.
© 2008 Azeez Communications, Inc.