Oct. 30, 2008
Final Stats
Fayetteville, NC - The Fayetteville State University women's volleyball team dropped their last regular season match to Chowan University 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-21) in front of their home crowd Thursday night inside Felton J. Capel Arena. The Lady Broncos also honored their seniors Heather Chance and Shatia Gidrey and designated their last home match as "Kills for the Cancer Awareness" Night.
FSU did not have a solid performance against Chowan, aside from all the activity lined up for the evening. The Lady Hawks had more kills and a better hitting percentage in each of the three sets. Middle blocker Antoinette McCollough had 12 kills and a .273 hitting percentage for Chowan. On the defensive side, Desaray Turner and Victoria Lewis had double digit dig totals with 11 and 12, respectively.
Despite the overall team performance, junior middle blocker Chekimbrell Jefferson produced 12 kills with a .258 hitting percentage and five digs for FSU. Junior utility Cailee Huffman had seven kills and nine digs, while sophomore setter Achari Mainor dished out a match-high 23 assists.
Fayetteville State was one of many colleges and universities in the country that dedicated a home match to raise money for breast cancer research. Participating schools are designating one home volleyball match in October, which is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
The Lady Broncos wore pink uniforms in support of the cause. Individual sponsors were asked to make a donation per kill tallied by FSU in the match or make a flat contribution to the cause. The money raised goes directly to The Sherri Arnold Graham Foundation.
The Sherri Arnold Graham Foundation is a not-for-profit, multicultural and interdenominational organization passionately committed to reducing the incidence and mortality from breast cancer among all people. In serving all people, this Foundation responds with culturally sensitive materials for minority women and men who have disproportionate awareness, healthcare access, treatment options and support systems.
"There are hundreds of volleyball teams participating in the Breast Cancer Awareness Programs across the country this month," says Coach Hill. "We are very proud to be a part of this movement at Fayetteville State University."
"Our goal is to create awareness as well as raise some money," Hill acknowledges. "I am pleased our student-athletes are involved in both aspects."
In conjunction with Cancer Awareness, the night was also spent honoring seniors Heather Chance and Shatia Gidrey for their contributions to the university and the volleyball program. Chance and Gidrey were apart of the 2007 CIAA Championship team and both were named to the 2008 All-CIAA Pre-season team.
Chance is a middle blocker from Dallas, TX majoring in Health Education. Chance is a two-time All-CIAA selection (2006 & 2007), who has also played at the right side hitter position.
Gidrey, a native of Jacksonville, NC, is an outside hitter majoring in Mathematics. She was selected to the 2007 All-CIAA team as a utility player. Interestingly, Gidrey's mother (formerly Monique Sharpless) played for the Lady Broncos under Coach Elorine Hill from 1994-1995.
With the loss, FSU is now 19-16 in the overall standings, 13-1 in the CIAA, and now 8-2 at home. The Lady Broncos must now prepare for the conference competition that awaits them at the 2008 CIAA Volleyball Championships in Hampton, VA. Tournament play will begins Friday, November 7th. Hopefully, Fayetteville State can defend their 2007 crown and repeat as champions.
