Match Info

• Friday, Nov. 13, 6 p.m.: vs. Mississippi Valley State | Military Appreciation & First Responders Night | Tallahassee, Fla. | SWAC TV
• Sunday, Nov. 15, noon: vs. Jackson State | Senior Day | Tallahassee, Fla. | SWAC TV

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida A&M volleyball comes home this weekend with the SWAC Tournament in Montgomery set to open Nov. 20 and a chance to sharpen the form that has carried the Rattlers all fall. The two-time defending SWAC champions (17-10, 12-2 SWAC) host Mississippi Valley State on Friday, Nov. 13, at 6 p.m. for Military Appreciation & First Responders Night, then welcome Jackson State on Sunday, Nov. 15, at noon for Senior Night.

FAMU arrives off a 3-1 loss at Prairie View on Nov. 8 that ended an 11-match SWAC winning streak. It was only the second conference loss of the season for a team that was voted the league's preseason favorite for the second straight year. The Rattlers have been at their best since a 5-8 start against a demanding nonconference schedule that included UConn, Coastal Carolina, Louisiana, FIU, Mercer, Cal State Fullerton and Idaho. Since league play opened, FAMU is 12-2 and has outhit its SWAC opponents .276 to .155. The Rattlers are also 7-2 at home and have won five straight there since a five-set loss to Alabama A&M on Sept. 27.

A Team That Wins in Every Phase
What separates this Rattlers team is that it beats opponents in every part of the game. In conference play, FAMU is averaging 13.58 kills per set to its opponents' 10.98, 2.21 blocks per set to 1.66, 13.54 digs to 12.66, and 2.18 aces to the 1.28 its opponents have managed. The result is a team that has swept seven of its 12 league wins, including five in a row from Oct. 25 through Nov. 6 (Alcorn, Southern, Alabama State, Alabama A&M and Texas Southern) without dropping a single set.

The Attack: Power and Efficiency
LaDonna Trantham is the headliner. The Rattlers' kills leader has 343 on the season (3.57 per set) and averages 4.09 points per set, and she is just as dangerous away from the net, with 195 digs and a .941 reception percentage on 561 serve-receive attempts. She posted a season-best 26 kills against Hampton on Sept. 12 and 25 more at Bethune-Cookman on Oct. 16.

Sydney Whitfield is right behind her with 315 kills (3.15 per set) and 357.5 points, and she has been a force in league play, putting down 171 kills at a .300 clip. Her 25-kill, .524 performance against Alabama State on Sept. 25 (three errors on 42 swings) is the second-best single-match hitting percentage by a Rattler this season (minimum 12 kills).

Farah Farooq is the efficiency leader, hitting .344 on 176 kills with just 47 errors in 375 attempts, and she is also the team's top blocker at 1.05 per set (96 total). Iyonnie Sanford has been equally steady, hitting .340 in conference play, and she turned in the team's cleanest single-match performance of the year with 12 kills and no errors on 20 swings (.600) against Southern on Oct. 26. Brandi Boston adds 94 kills and 53 blocks.

At the net, Tamia Coleman has played every one of the Rattlers' 102 sets and anchors the block with 95 total stops (23 solo), while Farooq, Boston and Sanford give FAMU four players with at least 50 blocks.

The Engine Room and the Back Row
Makenzie Taylor runs the offense with a team-high 575 assists (5.81 per set), including a 45-assist night against Louisiana and 41 at Bethune-Cookman. Bengisu Kazazlar provides a second look from the setter spot with 314 assists and a team-best 35 aces (0.36 per set), and she piled up 21 and 22 assists in the Rattlers' two October wins in Mississippi.
In the back row, Victoria Santana leads the team with 239 digs (2.54 per set) and has been nearly flawless in serve receive, committing just 18 errors on 372 attempts (.952). Sydney Humes is right there at 2.50 digs per set, and she had a team-high 23 digs against Louisiana on Sept. 10.

Revisiting October
FAMU already knows what works against both of this weekend's opponents, having beaten each of them on the road during a Mississippi swing in early October.

At Mississippi Valley State (Oct. 2), a 3-1 win (25-16, 22-25, 25-11, 25-14): The Rattlers hit .292 to MVSU's .091 and out-killed the Devilettes 55 to 32. Trantham was nearly unstoppable, finishing with 20 kills and two errors on 37 swings (.486), while Sanford added 13 kills at .423 and Kazazlar ran the offense with 21 assists.

At Jackson State (Oct. 4), a 3-1 win (25-17, 25-21, 23-25, 25-19): FAMU hit .219 to JSU's .143 and put on a serving and blocking clinic, with 14 aces (the second most in a match this season) and eight solo blocks (a season high). Whitfield led the way with 15 kills, Farooq added 12 at .333, Santana had 16 digs and four aces, and Coleman rejected four attackers solo.

Scouting Mississippi Valley State (1-22, 0-14 SWAC)
MVSU, picked 12th in the SWAC preseason poll, is still looking for its first conference win. The Devilettes' lone victory came against Wiley on Sept. 5, and they have lost 19 straight since. Valley State has hit just .057 as a team (7.77 kills per set), while opponents are hitting .253 against them, and the Devilettes have won only four sets in 14 league matches.

The attack runs through Taylor Wooten (150 kills, 1.95 per set) and Aubrie Walker (141, 1.83), with Aniyah Moore adding 97 kills and a team-best 59 blocks (0.79 per set). Setters Kameryn Browne (236 assists) and Erin Mims (233) share the load, and Taylor Wilson leads the back row with 190 digs (2.47 per set). The Rattlers won all eight meetings with MVSU from 2021 through 2024, the last a 25-10, 25-11, 25-10 sweep in Tallahassee, and they added another win on Oct. 2.

Scouting Jackson State (13-14, 9-5 SWAC)
Jackson State is the more dangerous of the two visitors. Picked third in the preseason poll, the Tigers sit at 9-5 in the SWAC and had won four in a row before a 3-1 loss to Alabama State on Nov. 8. They are tough in long matches (5-1 in five-setters) and relentless on defense, averaging 14.42 digs per set behind Giannelle Asomani, who has 430 digs (4.17 per set).

Up front, Hope Briggs is the player to stop. She has 307 kills (3.13 per set) at a .331 clip and 54 blocks, though FAMU limited her to a .132 hitting percentage (14 kills and nine errors on 38 swings) in October. Shelby Zanders (.380, 174 kills, 69 blocks) and Kyra Dove (.476 on 113 kills) are both highly efficient, and Sophia McKenzie leads the team with 30 aces. Naija Gadis runs the offense with 475 assists (4.75 per set).

The Rattlers' blueprint is the one that worked in October: win the serving and blocking battles, stay efficient, and close the match in four sets or fewer.

Rattler Notes
• FAMU has outhit SWAC opponents .276 to .155 this season.
• The Rattlers won 11 straight SWAC matches (Oct. 2 through Nov. 6) before Sunday's loss at Prairie View.
• Five consecutive sweeps (Oct. 25 through Nov. 6) without dropping a set.
• FAMU is 12-2 in the SWAC after a 5-8 start to the season.
• Trantham (343 kills), Whitfield (315) and Farooq (.344 hitting, 96 blocks) lead a balanced attack.
• The SWAC Tournament is scheduled for Nov. 20-22 at Alabama State in Montgomery.