TROY, Ala. (Sept. 21) – The FAMU Women's Volleyball team dropped both Saturday matches on the final day of the Troy University Volleyball Invitational at Trojan Arena.

FAMU (2-10) fell in five hard fought sets to The Citadel (25-22, 25-19, 24-26, 16-25, 11-15) Saturday afternoon, before pushing host Troy to the limit in their straight set loss (20-25, 20-25, 18-25) in the evening.

@ Against The Citadel, the Rattlers stormed to a two-set lead, 25-22 and 25-19, but a bitter loss in the potential match clincher in the third frame, 26-24 turned the tide for the Bulldogs, which also won the final two sets, 25-16 and 15-11.

Graduate outside Maria Yvett Garcia led FAMU with 18 kills, followed by 12 kills from Alexis Gosha and 10 kills from Alyssa Brown. Celeste Rodriguez had a team high 25 digs, with Gosha adding 19 and Garcia 15. Ilayda Nurkan (27) and Elena Dimitrova (20) led the team in assists.

@ In the Troy match, FAMU was paced by Maria Yvett Garcia with 10 kills, followed by Alexys Mann with six kills and Alexis Gosha with four kills. Ilayda Nurkan and Elena Dimitrova each finished with 11 assists, while Celeste Rodriguez had a team high 14 digs.

MEAC PLAY NEXT: FAMU opens Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play this coming Friday and Sunday against Northern Division foes Norfolk State (Friday at 7:00 p.m.) and Howard University (Sunday at 3:00 p.m.) in the Al Lawson Center.