DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Bethune-Cookman Volleyball is two wins shy of tying the program's all-time winning streak record after six straight wins heading into a weekend in which the Wildcats will take on Arkansas Pine Bluff and Grambling State on Friday Oct. 24 and Sunday, Oct. 26, respectively. 




Friday, October 24
Opponent: Arkansas - Pine Bluff (1-21, 1-8 SWAC)
Time: 7:30 p.m. EST 
Location: Pine Bluff, AR | H.O. Clemmons Arena
Live Stats: https://bcuathletics.com/Stats

Sunday, October 26
Opponent: Grambling State 4-15, 3-6 SWAC)
Time: 3 p.m. EST 
Location: Grambling, LA | Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center
Live Stats: https://bcuathletics.com/Stats



Make it six straight wins for Bethune-Cookman as the Wildcats took down Prairie View A&M, 3-1, Sunday afternoon at Moore Gymnasium. The Panthers came into the day as the SWAC's lone undefeated team in conference play at 7-0. 

Bethune-Cookman (10-11, 7-2 SWAC) suffered only two errors in an efficient first set win. Three Kaleigh Williams kills - including a service ace - set the tone as the Cats built up an early 10-7 advantage. 
 
Prairie View A&M (10-11, 7-1 SWAC) rallied for four straight to go up 12-11, but the Cats returned with four of their own, holding back the Panthers for a 25-20 win in the first set. 

The momentum continued into the second set as the Cats raced up 6-1 off three Panther errors. The Panthers pulled back even at 8-8 and continued to take a 15-13 lead off a pair of B-CU attack errors.

The Wildcats kept things close as Amya Jennings collected a pair of kills to tie things up, but the Panthers took the final three points of the set to finish off a 25-22 win and tie the match at 1-1.

B-CU held the Panthers to a.098 in a third set win. B-CU trailed as late as 13-12, but four straight off the serve of Nola Hemphill pushed the Cats up three. An Ariel Simmons kill closed out a 25-19 set win. 

Prairie View looked poised to tie things again with a 6-1 start to the fourth set before the Wildcats answered with nine straight off the serve of Kaleigh Williams. 

The Panthers could never recover - as Williams returned to serve later in the set, B-CU again rallied for three straight. A PVAMU attack error was challenged, but the call stood as the Wildcats finished off a 25-16 win to take the match, 3-1. 




UAPB is a meager 1-20 on the year and 1-7 in SWAC play. The lone win for the Golden Lions came in a 3-0 sweep of Mississippi Valley State on October 19. 

The Golden Lions rank in the SWAC's bottom three in every single statistical category. They average just nine kills per set, hitting 0.094 on the year as a team. 

Middle Blocker Ashanti Butler leads the team with 155 kills along with 39 blocks.

Grambling State is 4-15 on the year and 3-6 in conference play after a win Monday over Mississippi Valley State. The other two conference wins for the Tigers came against UAPB and Alcorn State.

Similarly to UAPB, the Tigers rank in the bottom half of the conference in all statistical categories. 

The Tigers have averaged just under 10 kills per set, hitting .120 as a team while allowing a .249 hitting percentage against. Junior outside Kenya Lucas leads the team in kills with 142.

Senior middle blocker Ra'Niya Brown ranks in the SWAC's top-10 in blocks with 44. 



Friday marks the fifth meeting all-time between B-CU and UAPB. The Cats have won all but one previous meeting, a 3-0 defeat in the first ever meeting between the two teams in 2021. 

Sunday marks the seventh meeting in the history of B-CU and Grambling State. The two teams have split the all-time series at 3-3, with B-CU taking each of the previous three meetings dating back to 2022. 

 
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