DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Amya Jennings registered a career-high 23 kills and Tiyanna Preston supplied 18 to help Bethune-Cookman Volleyball snap a 10-match skid to in-state opponent Florida A&M on Wednesday evening courtesy a 3-1 win in a Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) match at Richard V. Moore Gymnasium in Daytona Beach, Florida. B-CU took the match on scores of 25-11, 25-22, 23-25, 25-18.
 
Bethune-Cookman (6-11, 3-2 SWAC) came out on fire hitting a season-best .773 in the opening set with 17 kills on 22 swings against zero (0) errors.
 
The Wildcats ran out to a 12-0 advantage to start, forcing Florida A&M (3-13, 1-4 SWAC) to call two timeouts in the opening seven points of the match. Amya Jennings and Ariel Simmons would combine for 12 kills on just 15 attempts in the opener, as Melissa Gonzalez – receiving her first collegiate start at the setter position, recorded nine assists and a pair of service aces. The Cats would score five of the final six points in the set to claim the 25-11 win.
 
The second set saw 12 ties and seven lead changes as B-CU took advantage of several Rattlers miscues early-on, added a service error from FAMU's Iyonnie Sanford, to grab a 10-8 lead. With B-CU leading 15-10 following a Kaleigh Williams kill and a Gonzalez service ace bookending a Sydney Whitfield kill for the visitors, FAMU embarked upon a 10-4 run to grab a 20-19 edge. Several Wildcats hitting errors aided kills from FAMU's combination of Farah Farooq and LaDonna Trantham in the run, as well as a kill from Sanford.
 
However, B-CU settled to once again use Jennings for timely kills, as the Edina, Minnesota native would score four of the final five points for the Cats, respectfully, en route to the set victory courtesy a 6-3 run to close.
 
The Rattlers hit just .171 in the third set, but forced Bethune-Cookman into a .070 hitting performance and just 12 kills in the frame – the lowest of any set on the night for the Maroon and Gold. Sanford charged FAMU with four kills in the frame, while libero Victoria Santana was the catalyst keeping the Rattlers in several rallies with seven digs.
 
The Wildcats surged to a 7-2 lead in the fourth set behind the play of Tiyanna Preston with both blocks and kills, as well as senior Sierra Herndon at the net for blocks. After seeing the Cats lead 17-10, FAMU chipped into the deficit at 19-16 with kills from the trio of Farooq, Whitfield and Sanford, respectively. An attack error from Jennings was followed by a kill from Farooq off the B-CU block, spawning a timeout from B-CU head coach Brittany Williams.
 
Simmons and Preston went back-to-back for kills to give B-CU a 23-17 edge, while a Jennings service ace – her only one of the night, set up match point. The victory was sealed for the Cats with a service error from Sanford.
 
The win for B-CU was its first over FAMU since both teams were members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) in 2019. And for Brittany Williams, she now has six of the Wildcats seven wins all-time against their in-state opponents from Tallahassee.
 
FAMU was led on the night by Trantham's 15 kills and 13 digs for a double-double performance. Also amassing double-digit kills was Sanford (10). Setter Bengisu Kazazlar had 20 assists, while Santana pulled in 24 digs.
 
Bethune-Cookman was paced offensively by Jennings' career-high 23 kills and nine digs – falling just short of what would have been her third double-double consecutively. Preston followed with a career-best 18 kills of her own and hitting .325 for the match, adding six digs and two blocks (one solo). The Jonesboro, Georgia native has now reached double-digit kills in three consecutive matches. Gonzalez handed out 24 assists with 14 digs for her fifth double-double of the campaign – her second in the last three outings.
 
And it was graduate libero Sthefany Carvalho matching her season-best of 32 digs, as the Brazilian also notched 32 digs versus Charleston Southern in the Bash at the Beach hosted by Bethune-Cookman.
 
The Cats return to action Friday, Oct. 10, as B-CU travels to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to take on Southern University in a SWAC matchup at 7 p.m.ET (6 p.m. CT).
 
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