TALLAHASSEE, FLA. – The 2015 Bethune-Cookman volleyball squad continued making history, as the Wildcats clinched the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Southern Division Regular-Season title, while also becoming the first team to take down Florida A&M on the road, with a 3-0 (26-24, 25-20, 25-17) victory Sunday, Nov. 1 in Tallahassee.
The regular-season title marked the first in B-CU history, as the season-sweep of the Rattlers was also a first.
B-CU opened the match on a 3-0 run with Rakaya Neely, Rhea Simon and Maya Davis kills.
The Rattlers battled back, taking a 21-16 lead, and looking as if they were going to take the first set from the Wildcats, before head coach Brittany Williams called a Wildcat timeout.
A Hazel Ortiz Rosado kill out of the timeout sparked a 4-0 run for B-CU, closing the FAMU lead to one at 21-20.
Back-to-back Rattler errors gave the Wildcats a 23-22 lead late in the game and forced FAMU to call its second timeout of the set.
As the match headed into extra points, two-straight Jill Arlaud kills pushed B-CU on top, giving the Wildcats the come-from-behind first set, 26-24 victory.
The Rattlers scored first to open the second set, giving them their only lead of the game at 1-0.
After swapping the first six points, it was all B-CU for the remained of the set as the Wildcats pulled ahead 12-5 early, using a Phyleica Armstrong kill to force the Rattlers to use their second timeout of the game as B-CU lead 15-7.
FAMU did not go away, using a 4-0 run late in the set to close the gap to 21-18 and forcing coach Williams to use a timeout.
Ortiz Rosado closed the game with a kill from Alexas Thomas, sealing the 25-20 second set victory, and taking the 2-0 lead into the intermission.
Simon opened the third with a kill form Ortiz Rosado, and despite seven early ties and two lead changes, the Wildcats kept the momentum in their hands for the third and final set.
With a 20-16 lead for B-CU, back-to-back blocks from Ortiz Rosado/Neely and Simon/Neely turned up the crowed volume, and helped lift the Wildcats to a 25-19 victory after a Delicia Pierre kill closed the match.
During the historic night, Pierre lead B-CU on the offensive end with a team-best 12 kills on 20 attempts (12-2-20/.500) while Simon and Davis trailed with seven kills apiece.
Ortiz Rosado ran the Wildcat offense, finishing with a team-best 26 kills, leaving her 24 shy from becoming number two on the B-CU all-time assist leader chart.
On the defensive end, Ajsha Davie and Normarie Rolon each finished with 12 digs, while B-CU out blocked the Rattlers 10.0 to 6.0, led by Davis and Neely's four each.
The 3-0 victory is the third-straight sweep of the Rattlers for B-CU, and keeps the Wildcats league record perfect at 8-0, heading into the final two matches of the season.
B-CU closes the 2015 regular season during a North Carolina road swing as the Wildcats head north to face North Carolina A&T (Nov. 6) at 7 p.m., in Greensboro, and North Carolina Central (Nov. 8) at 2 p.m., in Durham.
