Box Score NCCU vs. FloridaA&M

DURHAM, N.C. (www.NCCUEaglePride.com) – In the final home contest of her career North Carolina Central University senior Emanuelle Santos provided her seventh double-double of the season with 14 kills and 12 digs in a four-set (26-24, 25-22, 24-26, 25-17) loss to Florida A&M on Sunday, Nov. 6 in McDougald-McLendon Gymnasium.

Prior to the Sunday contest, seniors Santos, Shantel Moore, Tasha-Gaye Richards and Raven King, who finished the competition with the second-highest defensive accomplishment of her career with 19 digs, were honored for their contribution to the NCCU Volleyball program.

Moore also had an outstanding final-home performance with 10 kills and four service aces, while freshman Dayanna Arrufat topped the squad with 15 kills.  Richards assisted on five blocks and accumulated one solo block, as sophomore Jzima-Malaki Kalao delivered 42 assists.
In a rare outing, NCCU and FAMU both amassed 53 kills, but the game changer was the number of errors.  The Eagles finished hitting 12 percent with 35 errors, while the Rattlers concluded the match hitting 24 percent with 21 errors.

The mighty maroon finished the night with 53 kills, 47 assists, five service errors, 53 digs and 11 team blocks.

FAMU’s offense was led by Marija Jovanovic, Maria Ceccarelli and Katherine Huanec.  Jovanovic and Ceccarelli finished with 16 kills apiece, while Huanec gathered 12 kills.  Dianna Gonzales guided the offense with 41 assists, while Gonzales, Pamela Barrera and Karol Marquez directed the defensive.  Marquez topped in digs with 23 and Gonzales followed with 10 digs, while Barrera collected two solo blocks and assisted on four blocks.

Off of 53 kills, 47 assists, three service aces, 53 digs and 13 team blocks, the Rattlers advance to 10-12 on the season.

Florida A&M opened the contest with a 26-24 set-one win.  The Rattlers led the competition for most of the match until the NCCU took a timeout at the 23-16 with FAMU ahead.  With only two points shy of seizing the win, the Eagles paced to an 8-3 run forcing the Florida visitors to battle until the end for the first-set win.

The Rattlers took set two of the match with a fight from behind battle, NCCU led by as many as four points until the two teams were tied at 18 points apiece.  The two Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference teams tied again at the 19-19 mark and 20-20 mark, until two consecutive errors from Moore put the Eagles in a four-point deficit for a score of 23-19.  FAMU seized the win with a ball handling error from NCCU’s Kalao and a kill from FAMU’s Jovanovic with a score of 25-22.

Set three of competition went to the Eagles, but without a fight.  The two squads tied on nine occasions and the set varied between four lead changes. 

NCCU lead the match until the first tie at the 8-8 mark and from that mark forward, the match was a nail bitter with NCCU and FAMU going point-for-point. 

A kill from Arrufat at the 21-18 mark put a slight halt to the back-and-forth play. 

While NCCU obtained a slight lead for eight plays, FAMU chiseled away at the effort until the match was locked at 24 apiece.  But, NCCU refused to relinquish the set and a kill by Richards and an error by Jovanovic delivered a 26-24 set-three win to the Eagles.

In set four of play, NCCU lost its steam with FAMU quickly taking the lead and pacing to 10-6 lead over the maroon and gray.  In the final set of play, the Rattlers lead by as many as seven points off of an 11-8 run.

Following a mighty maroon timeout, FAMU paced to a 4-3 run to seize a 25-17 win and conclude the match.

NCCU drops to 3-24 on the season, while FAMU advances to 10-12.

Sunday’s match marks the closure to the season.  NCCU concludes the 2011 campaign with a three-match road trip beginning with a Nov. 8 contest against High Point, followed by MEAC matchups with South Carolina State on Nov. 11 and Savannah State on Nov. 13.

After the match against SCSU, the Eagles will take part in the 2011 MEAC Conference tournament in Baltimore, Md., on Nov. 18-20. 

Visit the official NCCU Athletics website www.NCCUEaglePride.com for up-to-date information on Eagle Volleyball.