DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Alondra Bautista had 14 kills and 14 digs as Bethune-Cookman downed North Florida 3-1 (25-19,14-25,25-20,25-21) in Historic Moore Gym Tuesday.
Alana Handy and
Rakaya Neely each added 11 kills as the Wildcats (6-8) won their second straight and fourth of their last fifth.
Alana Shoff led the Ospreys (7-14) with 12 kills.
The Wildcats recovered from dropping the second set by pulling away from a 15-15 third set tie, taking a 22-17 lead on a Handy kill.
Bethune-Cookman hit .312 in the fourth set as it erased an 11-8 deficit. A 6-2 run put the Wildcats as match point on
Jessica Emile's kill, then Neely delivered the victory after North Florida managed a point.
Neely, who co-leads the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in hitting percentage, hit .409. Setter
Phalen Clark finished with 41 assists, 18 digs and two service aces.
Rechez Lindsay posted 15 digs.
Bethune-Cookman hosts North Carolina A&T in a match-up for the MEAC Southern Division lead Friday at 7 p.m.
HEAD COACH BRITTANY WILLIAMS
"We knew we this was a winnable match, but we would have to execute with all the adjustments of being a player [
Jordan Jefferson] down. As we get comfortable with the changes, we'll get better, but for tonight … not too shabby."
"Phalen's leadership was huge, She controls the weather of the team, and when she's up and poised, the team trusts us."
PHALEN CLARK
"Our honorary coach [Baseball coach
Jason Beverlin] talked to us about energy and that was the focus … we're a high energy team. We did a good job adjusting, except for a shaky second set."
"We love our middles – they're very powerful … and they took care of business tonight."
"Jessica ripped it up tonight. Definitely ripped it up."
NOTES: This was B-CU's first win over North Florida since 2008 and second in the 25-match series; North Florida took a 3-1 decision in the first meeting this season that kept Bethune-Cookman from an undefeated weekend at the Georgia Southern tournament last month … This snapped a nine-match losing streak on Tuesdays dating back to 2015 … Bautista has had 34 kills on the past two Tuesdays … Clark has had double-figure digs the last three matches … Neely has hit .300 or better in all six Wildcat victories.
