DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. –
LaDonna Trantham registered 25 kills and
Sydney Whitfield added 18 of her own to lead Florida A&M Volleyball to a 3-1 win away to Bethune-Cookman in a Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) matchup Friday evening inside Moore Gymnasium in Daytona Beach, Florida. The win came on scores of 25-17, 25-22, 22-25, 25-22.
The win allowed the Rattlers a regular season sweep of the Wildcats, while also gibing the Orange and Green its sixth win on the bounce.
Makenzie Taylor ran the Rattlers' offense with 41 assists from her setter position on the court, and libero
Victoria Santana had a match-high 19 digs.
Sydney Whitfield added 10 digs and an ace, and
Farah Farooq had nine kills and two block assists.
Florida A&M (12-9, 7-1 SWAC) finished with 65 kills to the Wildcats' 49 overall on the night.
Alaya Rhodes led Bethune-Cookman (9-9, 5-3 SWAC) with a match-high 26 kills and 16 digs. Kaleigh Williams had six block assists as the Wildcats outblocked the Rattlers 15-2, respectfully.
FAMU fell behind 8-3 in the opening set, then ripped off five straight points to tie it at 8-all. After a 16-16 tie, the Rattlers closed the set on a 9-1 run. Whitfield had six kills, and Florida A&M hit .262 while Bethune-Cookman hit .132.
Rhodes had five kills but also five errors on 19 swings in the opening frame for the hosts.
The Rattlers hit an improved .433 mark in the second set.
Trantham had seven kills on 12 swings with one error, and Taylor handed out 12 assists. With the set tied at 14-all, FAMU outscored the Wildcats 7-2 to lead 21-16. Bethune-Cookman crept within 22-24, but Trantham put away the set point right after a Rattlers timeout.
B-CU answered in the third set, hitting .419 behind nine kills from Rhodes, who made just one error on 12 swings.
The Wildcats led 20-15 after three straight points. FAMU cut a 23-19 deficit to 23-22 on a 3-0 run, but Williams and Sienna Lawrence combined on a block of Whitfield to end the set.
Despite the visitors hitting just .102 in the fourth set, the Rattlers still found a way to close out the road victory.
B-CU went up 12-8 on a 4-0 run and led 17-14 late.
The Rattlers then won 11 of the last 16 points.
A 4-0 run from 19-20 to 20-23, helped by two Wildcats errors, put FAMU in front for good.
Iyonnie Sanford had two kills on three swings in the set, Trantham added seven more kills, and Farooq put away the final point.
For Trantham, it was her fifth time on the season amassing 20 or more kills in a match. As for Taylor, it was her second time going over 40 assists in a match for the range and Green.
FAMU returns to action next hosting Alcorn State on Sunday, Oct. 25, at Noon, inside the Al Lawson Center.
Follow Florida A&M Athletics on Twitter (
@FAMUathletics) for all the latest news and updates. Follow us on Instagram (
@FAMUathletics) and Facebook (
FAMUath)
for even further behind-the-scenes action across all Rattlers Athletics.
