The Lady Rattlers completely and utterly dominated the court Friday night in a three game rout over the Norfolk State Spartanettes. FAMU (13-3 overall 6-0 MEAC) took full advantage of the crowd’s and FAMU Elite’s support to lift them to victory 30-6, 30-8, 30-10.
“It’s great [the support of the fans], FAM is very family oriented and it’s good to have everyone rooting for us,” said junior middle hitter Jayli Jackson. “They helped us to stay focused.”
More than 135 fans came to watch. Also in attendance were the FAMU Elite and Jake Gaither Community Center Youth Club. FAMU Elite has been supporting the volleyball team in its home games with cheering throughout the match and performances during timeouts and in between games.
“We saw a flier about the game and two of the girls in our group play for middle school so we decided to come and support the team,” said adviser Al Davis. “It was a lot of fun so next time we’ll bring about 50 kids.”
Leading the team was junior Tereza Arellano with 10 of her 12 attacks converted to kills for a .833 hitting percentage.
FAMU got off to a fast start in the first game. Sophomore Andreina Ruiz put the team on the board with a sharp cross-court kill. The ladies continued to push for points as they went on a 15-point run before allowing NSU to score again. In that spree, sophomore Adriana Kostadinova killed the Spartanettes with three service aces and two kills.
An amazing block by Jackson, a back row attack from Ruiz and an ace by junior setter Mariela Portocarrero closed the game 30-6.
The second game was played in the same fashion. Because the level of skill was so different, FAMU was able to work on more of its combinations.
Jackson did back slides out of the middle position, while Arellano and Ruiz were doing criss-cross patterns in the one and two spots.
“This [match] was like a mini post-season match in that we were trying different things to get better,” said Head Coach Tony Trifonov.
In the third game, Trifonov gave the starters a break. Freshman setter Diana Genkova came in and assisted the team to 11 kills.
FAMU continues its home stand Thursday against the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore at 6 p.m. The game will be a little harder for the Lady Rattlers because UMES is also undefeated in the MEAC.
“They’re going to come into the match with confidence, thinking they can win so hopefully we’ll come out the same way,” said Jackson.
The Lady Rattlers will need all the support they can get to keep the momentum on their side.
The FAMU marketing department will be giving away different items throughout the match along with hosting activities such as between games.
Dominique Drake can be reached at ddidis1@aol.com.