DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Bethune-Cookman volleyball's long stretch of home games will come to an end this weekend, as the Wildcats will face Alcorn State and Southern this weekend at Moore Gymnasium.

Following this weekend's action, the Wildcats will have just two home games remaining. They will head on the road for the next to weeks before finishing out the regular season back in Daytona Beach.

B-CU is currently 2-1 on the homestand and 3-3 overall at Moore Gym this season.


 
Game #1
Friday, October 23
Opponent: Florida A&M (3-14, 3-4 SWAC)
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: Daytona Beach, Fla. | Moore Gymnasium
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Game #2
Sunday, October 25
Opponent: Southern (La.) (7-13, 3-4 SWAC)
Time: 12 p.m.
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Despite a career-high 26 kills from Alaya Rhodes, the Wildcats were unable to overcome a 2-0 hole, dropping a tightly-contested contest to Florida A&M in four sets.

Bethune-Cookman (9-9, 5-3) stormed out in front during the first set, taking an 8-3 lead after back-to-back FAMU attack errors.

Florida A&M quickly answered with a 5-0 scoring run to tie the game, including two kills by Sydney Whitfield.

The Wildcats would retake the lead again before the Rattlers began to take over. After the game was tied at 12, FAMU would outscore B-CU 13-5 the rest of the way to win set one, holding the Wildcats to a .132 hitting percentage.

The second set was tightly contested early before both teams exchanged modest scoring runs. B-CU would put together a 6-2 burst to go ahead 13-12, aided by kills from Kaleigh Williams and Alaya Rhodes.

Following a tied game at 14 apiece, the Rattlers again came up with the run they needed to effectively put the set on ice. The Wildcats attempted to rally late to no avail, as the Rattlers would take set two by a three-point margin.

The third set was the Wildcats' strongest statistical performance of the night as they outhit the Rattlers .419 to .229. 

B-CU grabbed an early 6-3 lead and would not trail again the rest of the way. Florida A&M kept the score close but were unable to overcome the deficit. The Wildcats won 25-23 to force a fourth set.

Both teams struggled offensively in the fourth set, as each team hit under .200 overall.

The Rattlers jumped out to a 4-0, but B-CU answered with a furious 7-1 run to make it 7-5. Rhodes along with Leila Hargrove recorded kills during the stretch.

After three straight points from Florida A&M, the Wildcats scored five straight to push the lead back to four.

The Rattlers then slowly clawed its way back, eventually taking a 21-20 lead late. The advantage was then pushed to three before B-CU fought to stay alive.

With a narrow 23-22 lead, Florida A&M picked up clutch kills from Iyonnie Sanford and Farah Farooq, to hold off the Wildcats' rally and win the match 3-1.

Alcorn State
The Braves are just 3-14 overall this season but have won two of its last three games to move to 3-4 in SWAC play. They most recently defeated in-state rival Mississippi Valley State in four sets.

Offensively, Alcorn ranks 10th in the SWAC in points, ninth in hitting percentage, 10th in assists, and 10th in kills. Sophomore Rylan Jones has been the team's initiator this season, placing tenth in the league in kills and tenth in points.

On the defensive side, the Braves also rank toward the bottom of the league statistically. Cristin Webb has had a strong season at the net, placing eight in the SWAC in blocks.

Southern (La.)
The Jags are also 3-4 in the SWAC thus far but have not beaten a SWAC opponent since October 9th against MVSU. They fell to Jackson State at home on October 11th and have not played a SWAC game since.

Like the Braves, Southern has been a below average SWAC team on offense. They are hitting just .112 as a team this year, which puts them only above Arkansas - Pine Bluff and Mississippi Valley State.

Sereniti Johnson leads the program with 193 kills, a mark that places her ninth in the league. She had a season-best performance againsts the Delta Devils with 19 kills on a .412 hitting percentage.

The Jaguars have been solid defensively, ranking fourth in opponent hitting percentage and third in opponent kills allowed. Najah Harris has been a big reason why.

The senior libero tops the SWAC by a wide margin with 367 digs, averaging 5.1 per set. She has twice recorded 30 digs in a game and has only twice finished in single digits (both games went only three sets).




Bethune-Cookman has never lost to Alcorn in its history and has lost just two sets all time.

The Wildcats are 5-2 against Southern but have not lost to the Jaguars since 1999.

 
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