Florida A&M University Lady Rattlers volleyball team has dominated the past few weeks in conference play. Maria Garcia won Player of the week in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), which is the second week a Lady Rattler has achieved this accomplishment.
Maria Garcia is a freshman outside hitter who has been pretty impressive this season for the Rattlers. Coach Tanio Trifonov spoke about his two players that received player of the week and said it gives them confidence.
“It’s a great accomplishment for the kids, and the recognition gives them confidence,” Trifonov said.
Garcia said she was very happy to receive this accomplishment, but the ultimate goal is winning the MEAC championship.
“It feels great because I was practicing very hard, but I don’t work for individual awards. I’m working towards our team goal which is to win the MEAC championship,” Garcia said.
Garcia went on to speak about the team’s strengths, one of which being unity.
“We are very united as a team and that’s what makes playing together so easy,” Garcia said.
In her last game against Troy University, Garcia finished the game with 19 kills, 10 digs and a couple of service aces. The Lady Rattlers are still undefeated in conference play and are on a six-game winning streak.
Trifonov felt the team needs to improve in every practice because they are young as a team.
“We need to improve in all areas. We have played a lot of matches, so hopefully experience is getting a little bit better but the short term goal is to get better every practice and every game,” Trifonov said.
Their next game is Friday against South Carolina State in Orangeburg, S.C. at 7 p.m.