TALLAHASSEE, N.C. — Freshman
Estfania Louis totaled eight kills and five blocks for the second time in three days for visiting North Carolina Central University in a 3-1 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference loss to Florida A&M University Sunday afternoon.
The Rattlers maintained first place in the Southern Division after rallying from a first-set loss and winning 21-25, 25-23, 25-14, 25-18. FAMU is 7-14 overall and 6-1 in the league.
NC Central (4-17, 2-5) next hosts Savannah State University in the Walker Center on Friday at 6 p.m.
NCCU HIGHLIGHTS & STATS:
The eight kills and five block assists matched Louis' season-high totals from Friday against Bethune-Cookman University.
Senior
Whitney White and freshman
Morgan Goodwin led the Lady Eagles with 11 kills apiece. Freshman
Arlanda Faulkner followed with nine spikes. Goodwin totaled 13 points with four block assists.
Freshman setter
Isis Mitchell recorded her fourth double-double after tallying team-best totals of 35 assists and 17 digs. Senior libero
Erika Ianovale chipped in 11 digs.
FLORIDA A&M HIGHLIGHTS & STATS:
Junior Radka Dimitrova and Maria Yvettt Garcia accounted for 48 of the Rattlers' 61 kills with 25 and 23 kills, respectively. Dimitrova completed a double-double with 15 digs. Sophomore Ilayda Nurkan was setting up a FAMU attack that hit .308 with 49 assists. Senior Valentina Carrasco led all players with 21 assists.
SET-BY-SET:
1ST: The Lady Eagles took the initial lead by breaking a late 20-20 tie with a closing 5-1 run. The surge featured a couple kills by Louis.
2ND: NCCU had its best hitting set at .257, but FAMU heated up to .394 to level the score. The tightest set with 12 ties and seven lead changes was level at 23-all before the Rattlers scored the final two points, including a closing kill by Dimitrova.
3RD: Florida A&M was even more unstoppable in the third to take its first lead. The Rattlers pounded down 17 kills and only made one error for a .500 hitting percentage to win by 11.
4TH: The hosts tallied 17 more kills to close out the match with Garcia supplying nine kills and Dimitrova accounting for eight more.
