DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Oct. 8) – The FAMU Women's Volleyball team fought off rival Bethune-Cookman Tuesday night, winning a five-set thriller, 3-2 in Moore Gymnasium, in a battle between the two teams picked to share the 2019 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Southern Division crown.
FAMU (5-12, 3-1 MEAC) won their second straight conference match, taking the first two sets, 25-23 and 25-15, before the Wildcats (5-13, 2-2 MEAC) rallied to win the next two sets, 25-19 and 25-21, to force a decisive fifth period.
The Rattlers pulled away from the 'Cats, 15-8 in the decider to win their third conference match in four tries, leaving them one half game behind Southern Division leader North Carolina A&T (4-0), who will visit FAMU on Sunday (1:00 p.m. – Lawson Center).
Leading the way for FAMU was outside Maria Yvett Garcia with 15 kills, followed by Elena Dimitrova with 10 kills, Alexis Gosha and Alyssa Brown with seven, and Alexys Mann with five.
Freshman Nahla Muhammad has a team high 26 digs, followed by Gosha with 23 and Garcia with 14.
Alyssa Brown topped FAMU with nine blocks, while Ilayda Nurkan dished out 24 assists for FAMU Tuesday.
WHAT'S NEXT: FAMU will play their next four MEAC bouts in the Lawson Center, beginning this weekend as the North Carolina twins, NCCU (Friday at 7:00 p.m.) and division-leading North Carolina A&T (Sunday at 1:00 p.m.) come to town with the division lead on the line.
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