DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Rakaya Neely posted 13 kills and six blocks as Bethune-Cookman snapped a 49-match losing streak to Florida A&M Sunday, downing the Rattlers for the first time ever with a 3-0 (25-20,25-22,25-21) victory in Moore Gymnasium.
The freshman hit .522 to help the Lady Cats (10-19 overall, 8-2 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference South) finish the regular season with their best record percentage-wise in league play.
Delicia Pierre added nine kills and seven digs for Bethune-Cookman, a seniorless team that found something to celebrate other than Senior Day in its regular season finale.
“It's sinking in, and it's a great feeling,” said Pierre, a junior. “To see the growth and change in this team is wonderful. We can see the results.”
Florida A&M (11-14,9-1) easily swept the Lady Cats 3-0 in the first meeting October 10 in Tallahassee to extend the winning streak in the series that started when Bethune-Cookman first fielded a team in 1987. This time, Bethune-Cookman outhit the Rattlers .252-.161 and committed seven less errors.
“We didn't execute and were nervous up there,” said B-CU Head Coach Isaac Raphael. “We've been looking forward to this match all year – we planned well, practiced well and everything worked.”
The Rattlers took an 11-6 lead in the third set before Bethune-Cookman managed a 13-13 tie on consecutive Hazel Ortiz-Rosado service aces and took its first lead at 14-13 on a service error.
Bethune-Cookman pulled away from a 14-14 tie to lead by as many as three points. After Florida A&M closed to 19-18, the Lady Cats ran off four unanswered points to lead 23-19 and were at match point at 24-20. A Rattler service error gave the Lady Cats the victory.
Neely had six kills in the opening set and five in the second as Bethune-Cookman opened up four points leads in each set and kept the Rattlers at bay.
Lauren Turner added seven kills and five blocks for the Lady Cats, while Normarie Rolon paced the defense with 13 digs. Ortiz-Rosado posted 31 assists, and the two service aces boosted her MEAC-leading total to 51.
Bethune-Cookman earned the South Division's second seed for the conference tournament beginning a week from Thursday in Baltimore.
NOTES: Neely increased her block total to 98 for the season, five short of the single-season record of 103 held by Sharifa Carr … The Lady Cats finish the 2014 regular with a perfect record (5-0) at home in MEAC play and a winning record (5-4) overall … The last time Bethune-Cookman even won two sets against Florida A&M was in 1996 ... This also snapped the Rattlers' 38-match win streak in conference play.
