Nov. 8, 2009

Final Stats

HAMPTON, Va. - Unfortunately for the Fayetteville State volleyball team, history repeated itself on Sunday.

The Broncos, led by three-time CIAA Player of the Year Chekimbrell Jefferson, fell to Chowan 3-2 (25-17, 19-25, 25-21, 15-25, 11-15) in the championship match of the CIAA tournament.

In 2008, FSU lost in five sets to Elizabeth City State in the championship match.

"After the match was over, I told them to look at how far we have come this season," first-year head coach Reeshemah Johnson said. "I know they were disappointed losing in the championship two years in a row, but they have to look at where we're coming from."

Holding 2-1 set advantage in the fourth, FSU led 11-9 and looked to be on their way to the title.

But the Hawks, led by Nett McCollough who had a team-high 21 kills rallied, scoring 11 straight points to seize control of the set and ultimately the match.

"Their block was real solid in that set," Johnson said. "They rolled those points up. In a rally point game, it's really hard to come back when you get that far down."

Johnson said her team performed well, but that the Hawks played better. "We played an excellent game," said Johnson. "It's just that Chowan beat us. They just played a little better than we did. But everybody on our team played well."

Jefferson led FSU with 21 kills and four blocks. Freshmen Ifeyinwa Nwokolo and Joi Emanuel combined for 19 kills while Samantha Meeks added nine kills and 16 digs.

It was the final match in the FSU careers of seniors Jefferson, Galberth and Huffman. Huffman had a match-high 26 digs and Galberth contributed two kills, two digs and four blocks.

"Next year we're losing a very valuable part of the time as you can see," Johnson said. "It's going to be really hard to replace them. The good part about it is that we have some people with experience now."

FSU returns first-team All-CIAA performers Achari Mainor and Meeks next season, along with all-rookie team selection Nwokolo. Also, Demarius Pankey and Kierra Crossland will be back for their senior seasons.

Johnson believes that the Broncos can be among the CIAA's elite against in 2010.

"The freshmen will no longer be freshmen, so we are expecting a lot from them," Johnson said. "Going into next season it's a good group of players that we can build around."

Sunday's appearance in the title game was the Broncos' third straight.

"That says that Fayetteville State has a record of winning," Johnson said. "When I entered the CIAA as a player other teams were on top. Now to see that we're there is exciting."