The Florida A&M women’s volleyball team traveled to Daytona Beach this past weekend to face three conference opponents.
The outing was a great way to prepare for the SWAC tournament, which is less than two weeks away, as the Rattlers hope to win their third consecutive conference championship.
The first game of the weekend was against the Alcorn State Braves at the Richard V. Moore Gymnasium. The Rattlers have never lost to Alcorn State, and this game was no different.
The Rattlers dominated the match, winning all three rounds for their fifth sweep this season.
The team was led by the All-SWAC First-Team outside hitter Brooke Lynn Watts, who had racked up 19 kills, which was more than all the Braves kills leaders combined. Camila De La Rosa and Alexandra Koleva also combined for 32 assists.
The second match was against the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions.
FAMU built off their momentum for the first game and came out strong, winning the first round tightly with a score of 25-21. After the first-round win, the Lady Rattlers were unstoppable, winning the next round with a score of 25-20 and the last round with a score of 25-14.
This was another sweep on the weekend and allowed the Rattlers to remain undefeated against the Golden Lions.
Brooke Lynn Watts racked up the most kills with 14, Emerald Jacobs with nine, and Isis Williams with six. Brooke Hudson managed to collect 19 digs as well, showing her premise on the defensive side.
The final match of the event was against the Grambling State Tigers.
This game was like the rest, as the Rattlers were too hot to be stopped. The team swept their opponents again with scores of 25-20, 25-20, and 25-17.
Brooke Lynn Watts led the team in kills again with 11. Brooke Hudson had three aces and 22 digs, and Isis William was active around the net with two blocks for the game. Alexandra Koleva led the team with 27 assists in the game, which was more than all of the Golden Lions setters combined.
This weekend was flawless for the Florida A&M Rattlers as they came out of Daytona Beach with three sweeps. This put their record at 13-13, making them .500 on the season, and it moves their conference record up to 9-4.
Coach Yilmaz spoke earlier this season about the team’s primary goals. “Our goal is to look at what we have and improve off of what we can do, and after that, it’ll be a competition once the conference tournament starts,” she said.
The Lady Rattlers only have three more games until this event, facing off with three more conference opponents. They face off against Mississippi Valley State, Jackson State, and Bethune Cookman University, all teams they have defeated this season. They hope to keep the streak rolling and strive into the tournament with a victory.