Nov. 17, 2007
Box Score
HAMPTON, VA. - Florida A&M extended its lengthy domination of MEAC volleyball in Saturday's championship at Hampton, Va.
The unbeaten Rattlers ran its conference winning streak to 99 matches downing UMES 31-29, 29-31, 30-24 and 30-21 for its seventh consecutive championship.
The Hawks (24-4) had won 23 straight matches prior the conference final and gave Florida A&M a brief scare before succumbing.
"Maryland Eastern Shore played really well the first couple of games," said FAMU Head Coach Tony Trifonov. "They played with a lot of hustle and picked up some balls on defense. You have to give them credit. This was one of the most competitive finals that I have ever been apart of."
UMES coach Don Metil had no trouble pinpointing the reason for Florida A&M's overwhelming success.
"They have so much experience in this type of setting," Metil said. "They control the ball and are very consistent."
FAMU (18-6) escaped the first game with a 31-29 win after the maroon and gray battled to tie it at 23. A Maria Gomez kill put the Rattlers ahead for good at 24-23, but FAMU errors down the stretch kept it close.
From there, Florida A&M made games three and four look surprisingly easy, outscoring UMES 60-45. The Rattlers built a 29-19 lead in the fourth game, its largest of the match.
"We didn't play that well in that game and needed to improve our focus," maroon and gray setter Christina Estebane' said. Estebane' added 10 kills for UMES and libero Leah Amundson paced the defense with 25 digs. Estebane' helped the Hawks erase an 8-3 deficit in the second game and scored the game-winning point on a service ace.
FAMU had not lost a championship game since 1999.
"I am happy with the outcome", Estebane' added. "We feel we don't have a weakness and can overcome a lot of things with our overall knowledge of the game."
UMES jumped out to a surprising 16-9 third game lead fueled by Sam Chukwura and Holiday Eller, who finished the night with 11 kills apiece. After the Hawks widened their margin to 19-11, the Rattlers went on a 9-1 run to tie it at 20 and a string of maroon and gray mistakes sealed the game for FAMU.
Whitney Johnson came up with 25 kills while Caylin Woodward added seven kills and turned in 21 digs for UMES. Woodward also provided 10 assists.
``We were not mentally tough enough to pull through this match," Metil said. "I'm still very proud of our team because they never gave up. I have a positive outlook even though it wasn't the end the to the perfect season like we hoped"
