TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Once again, Bethune-Cookman and Florida A&M teams meet with a lot on the line, this time it's volleyball in a key Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Southern Division match Friday at 6 p.m. in the Al Lawson Center on the highest of seven hills in the state's capital city.
The Lady Wildcats (13-4 overall, 5-2 MEAC) can take command of the division with a victory over the Rattlers (7-13,6-1) since B-CU would have the head-to-head tiebreaker. If B-CU wins this match and sweeps next weekend's South Carolina State-Savannah State swing, it takes the South Division's #1 seed for the MEAC tournament in Washington, D.C.
Bethune-Cookman won the first meeting this season on October 5 as
Jordan Jefferson posted 17 kills and 21 digs in a 3-1 victory.
J'nai Higgins posted 38 assists and 18 digs while
Shayla Eugene had a career-high 25 digs.
HISTORY: The Lady Wildcats concluded their October 6-5 and their home schedule 5-3 with Tuesday's 3-0 loss to Jacksonville. One of the October wins was at Coppin State and is B-CU's only true road of the year in 10 tries. November has been very good to the Lady Wildcats in the
Brittany Williams era with 10 wins in 14 matches the past three years.
THE SERIES: Bethune-Cookman has won four of the last seven matches with its rivals from the 850. B-CU's 3-0 victory in 2015 in Tallahassee was its first road win of the series.
GOTTA HAVE FAITH: Sophomore
Faith Landreneaux has toiled under the radar of Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference because injuries early in the season kept her from registering the minimum amount of appearing in 67 percent of her team's matches. She reached it Tuesday night. Her numbers: second in hitting percentage (.278) and eighth in service aces (.37 per set).
QUEEN OF THE HILL: Senior
Meraiah Hill needs one block to break
Phylecia Armstrong's 2016 single-season mark of 108. She's also leading the MEAC in blocks per set at 1.28 clip.
BROKEN RECORDS: Jordan Jefferson handled the single-season dig mark during Tuesday's match…. Her current 317 kills and 1,262 have her on pace to finish the season with top five single-season marks … Landreneux' hitting percentage is top five if it holds …
Shayla Eugene needs 45 digs for 400 on the season.
MORE STATS: Jefferson's sixth in the MEAC in kills and third in digs, Higgins seventh in assists, and Eugene sixth in digs.
ABOUT FAMU: The Rattlers started the season 0-12, but have won seven of their last eight….Marua Yvette-Garcia is second in the MEAC with 3.85 kills per set while Radka Dimitrova has 191 kills in 72 sets.
FRIDAY'S COVERAGE: Follow our pithy comments on @bcuvolleyball all day Friday before, during and after the match.
