TROY, Ala. (Sept. 15) – The FAMU Women's Volleyball team captured their first victory of the 2018 season here Saturday, winning a four-set thriller against host Troy University in the final match of the Troy Volleyball Invitational at Trojan Arena.
FAMU (1-13), won the first two sets of the hard-fought match, 25-23 and 25-22, before Troy (4-7) rallied to win the third set, 25-20. The Rattlers then clinched the match with a 25-23 win in the fourth set Saturday.
Junior outside Maria Yvett Garcia led the way for FAMU with 17 kills, followed by Radka Dimitrova with 13 kills, and eight kills each from Karina Pressoir and Aybuke Kocabiyik.
Ilayda Nurkan dished out 36 assists, while Valentina Carrasco (15) and Jessa Long (12) set the pace for FAMU in digs against Troy.
On Friday, FAMU dropped a pair of matches, 3-1 to Jacksonville (Ala.) State, and 3-0 to Kennesaw (Ga.) State in Trojan Arena.
In Friday's opener, Kennesaw (7-4) pulled off a three-set sweep, 19-25, 16-25 and 14-25, as the Rattlers couldn't quite get untracked against the Owls.
Garcia led FAMU in that opening bout with 11 kills, followed by Pressoir (5) and Kocabiyik (4). Nurkan handed out a team high 16 assists in the match, while Carrasco (15) and Long (7) led the way in digs for FAMU.
Match Two on Friday saw the Rattlers drop the opening set to Jacksonville State, 25-19, before taking the second set, 25-16. The Gamecocks then took the next two sets, 25-13 and 25-11, to close out the match.
Garcia was the hitting star again with 17 kills, followed by Pressoir (7) and Radka Dimitrova (6). Nurkan handed out 31 assists, while the trio of Carrasco (15), Nurkan (7), and Long (5) set the pace in digs.
TROY TOURNEY NUMBERS: Garcia totaled 45 kills in the three matches for FAMU, followed by Radka Dimitrova (21), Pressoir (20) and Kocabiyik (15)…. Nurkan finished with a team-high 83 assists in the event; Pressoir (13), Kocabiyik (11)and Nurkan (8) led the way in total blocks, while in the digs category, it was the duo of Carrasco (45) and Jessa Long (24) setting the pace.
WHAT'S NEXT: FAMU takes a two-week break to refresh and reset before opening Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Southern Divisional play Friday and Sunday, Sept. 28 and 30 on the road against North Carolina A&T and North Carolina Central. Their next home bout will be Friday, Oct. 5 against archrival Bethune-Cookman in the Lawson Center (6:00 p.m.).
