DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The makings of a historic senior weekend are in place as the Wildcats seek to break the all-time program win streak on senior weekend as they host Alabama A&M and Alabama State for a pair of matches to close out the home season, Friday and Sunday, October 31 and November 2 at Moore Gymnasium.
 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by BCUVolleyball (@bcuvolleyball)

A win Friday night would set a new program record of nine wins, breaking the previous record of eight set last season. 

Friday's game will serve as both a "Blackout" game and Greek Night for B-CU Volleyball. Admission to the game is free.
 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by BCUVolleyball (@bcuvolleyball)

On Sunday, the Wildcats will honor eight seniors playing in their final home games in the Maroon & Gold:

Mecca Freeman
Rylee Davis
AJ Simmons
Sierra Herndon
Tiyanna Preston
Sthefany Carvalho
Naterah Moore
Cheyenne Patterson (Manager)




Friday, October 31 | Sunday, November 2
Opponent: Alabama A&M (15-8, 6-4 SWAC) | Alabama State (8-14, 7-3 SWAC)
Time: 6pm EST | 12pm EST
Location: Daytona Beach, FL | Moore Gymnasium
Watch Live: https://www.youtube.com/@CatEyeNetwork/streams
Listen Live: https://bcuathletics.com/sports/2024/11/13/Cateye-Network-Radio.aspx
Live Stats: https://bcuathletics.com/Stats


The Wildcats made it eight straight - tying the program record in wins set last season - as B-CU defeated Grambling State, 3-1, Sunday afternoon at the Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center.

Bethune-Cookman pulled away midway through the first set off the serve of Melissa Gonzalez, scoring seven consecutive points behind a pair of kills from Amya Jennings. Back-to-back Ariel Simmons kills and a Kaleigh Williams service ace made it 24-15 before Simmons shut the door with a kill to take the set, 25-15. 
 
The Tigers turned things around in the second set, moving in front 7-2 after five B-CU errors. The Wildcats could never recover, failing to manage more than three consecutive points, as the Tigers evened things up with a 25-18 set win.

Set three remained tight until the 15-15 mark, when two aces from Neveah Donahoe aided a B-CU run where the Cats scored 10 of the next 14 to jump in front again on a 25-19 win. 

It was the serve of Jennings again that set the tone in the final frame as the Wildcats flipped a 10-9 Grambling State advantage into a 14-10 lead. Tiyanna Preston collected three kills as the Cats ran off five more to make it 20-14. 

The Tigers kept things close but it was Preston again who closed things out with a kill at 25-20 for the 3-1 match win.



Alabama A&M is 15-8 on the year and 6-4 in SWAC play, sitting fifth in the conference standings heading into the final few weeks of the season. Since defeating B-CU in a five-set thriller on Oct. 3, the Bulldogs have won only three games, taking losses to Jackson State, Prairie View A&M, and back-to-back losses to Alabama State.

The Bulldogs rank second in the SWAC in points at 15.75 per set, primarily behind the swing of outside hitter Rayishon Jackson, who leads the team in kills with 269. 

AAMU has been strong in the serve-receive, leading the SWAC in fewest opponent service aces at under one per set while posting the second most aces for at 1.75 per set. 

Graduate middle Sana Dennis leads AAMU in blocks with 59 total on the year. 

Alabama State sits below Alabama A&M in overall record at just 8-14, but the Hornets appear above the Bulldogs in the SWAC standings due to their 7-3 conference record. 

The Hornets fell to B-CU, 3-1, back on Oct. 5, but have since lost only two games - one to Jackson State and the other to Prairie View A&M.

Alabama State leads the SWAC in kills per set at 12.29, thanks largely to senior outside Jyriah Morgan, who ranks second in the SWAC with nearly four kills per set. 

Her teammate, sophomore setter Kamrynn Clay, leads the conference in asssists with 541.




Friday will mark the 13th meeting between B-CU and AAMU, with the two teams locked in a 6-6 tie in the all-time series. B-CU had won the previous two meetings, 3-0, before the five-set loss earlier this season.

Sunday will mark meeting number 20 between the Wildcats and Hornets, with B-CU having won 12 of 19 prior meetings. All seven wins for Alabama State in the series came in a seven-game winning streak between 2021 and 2023. Since the end of that run, the Wildcats have won the previous three meetings. 

 
Follow Bethune-Cookman Volleyball on Twitter (@BCUVolleyball) and Instagram (@BCUVolleyball) for all of the latest news and updates. For all Bethune-Cookman Athletics news, follow us on Twitter (@BCUAthletics), Instagram (@BCU_Athletics) and BCUathletics.com.