The Rattlerette Volleyball team is gearing up for their second home match against North Carolina A&T tonight at 7 p.m.
The Rattlerettes are coming off a six-game road trip that ended Tuesday at South Florida. After that match, the team dropped to a record of 4-3. The Rattlerettes accumulated road wins against Louisville in the Georgia Tech Tournament, Louisiana State University, and Bethune-Cookman.
In their conference victory over Bethune-Cookman, the Rattlerettes dominated, finishing the match in 1 hour 54 minutes. They won the match in four sets (30-23, 30-20, 25-30, 30-22). Leading the team was freshman Andreina Ruiz with 16 kills and 11 digs. Fiorella Aita Junek, Giulianna Velorio and Adriana Kostadinova also contributed kills in the double figures. This was BCC’s seventh straight loss, reducing their record to 3-10 overall and 0-1 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
The Rattlerettes look to improve their MEAC record to 2-0 tonight, as they continue their trek towards becoming three-time MEAC Champions under Head Coach Tony Trifonov.
When looking at previous records, Florida A&M leads the series with 24 match wins as opposed to North Carolina A&T’s five.
Upon asking how he feels going into the game, Assistant Coach Sergio Villar Gallup replied, “It will be a hard game because they play with a lot of heart and hustle.”
Last season, the team beat the Aggies both home and away, embarrassing them in three straight games Oct. 12, and again Nov. 2 in Gaither Gymnasium.
North Carolina A&T has four returning starters, five newcomers, and seven returning letter winners. Among the returning starters is Rookie of the Year Amanda Padilla. The Aggies finished second in the MEAC last season with a record of 11-3. As of Sept. 25, the Aggies were 7-8 overall and 2-0 in the MEAC.
“They want to beat us… they’re already talking a lot about the match,” stated Villar Gallup. Florida A&M’s volleyball team will have their work cut out for them, because they must go in ready to play with a vengeance.
The Rattlerettes round out this weekend with a match against South Carolina State on Sept. 29 in Gaither Gymnasium.
Dominique Drake can be reached at Ddidis1@aol.com.