Late Friday evening at 7 p.m. Florida A&M University’s volleyball team played Winston-Salem State University and won 3-0 improving their record to (8-10, 5-1) for an audience of 155 fans.
They are currently first place in the MEAC South.
Volleyball head coach Tony Trifonov said they played acceptably.
“We played okay, the first and third game we allowed way too many points, but the most important thing is that they are doing what we asked them to do,” Trifonov said.
They allowed 13 points in the first game, 5 points in the second and 13 points in the third.
With a loss two weeks ago to State Carolina State University, Trifonov said they played no differently.
“We played about the same,” Trifonov said.
The team’s MEAC, regular season match, winning streak, ended at 98 last October 17 with a (3-1) loss to SCSU, FAMU’s first league setback since 1998.
Despite only having eight players on their roster, FAMU’s team had a strong game with a total of 11 serves attempted and nine executed. Maria Gomez attempted four serves and executed two.
The Lady Rattlers had a total of 33 kills and 43 attacks on Friday night.
Trifonov said even though they were victorious, there are still improvements that need to be made.
“We need to increase our speed in everything that we do and reduce the personal enforced errors,” Trifonov said.
Trifonov said Samara Ferraz, Jovana Blazeski, and Maria Gomez were the top players in the game.
Each player prepared for the Friday night game differently.
Middle blocker Samara Ferraz, senior from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, said she practiced her hitting because she got blocked too much last game.
“I think I did well tonight because I didn’t have any blocked balls,” Ferraz said.
Outside hitter Jovana Blazeski, sophomore from Belgrade, Serbia, said, “[I] practiced yesterday real hard and worked on footwork, blocking and covering technique.”
Outside hitter and middle blocker, Maria Gomez, junior from Guayaquil, Ecuador, said she prepared by staying optimistic.
“[I] basically tried to have a good day and think positively, the time, rest and eat good food,” Gomez said.
Trifonov said the Lady Rattlers focused going into the game against Winston-Salem State University.
“The preparations made for this game were nothing particular,” Trifonov said. “We just played our game.”
There next home game is Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. against Bethune Cookman.