Oct. 11, 2010
Final Stats
FAYETTEVILLE, NC - The Livingstone Lady Blue Bears arrived late.
The Fayetteville State Lady Broncos sent them home early.
The Lady Broncos had little trouble with Livingstone in the teams' volleyball match on Monday night, winning in straight sets to stay in the hunt for the Southern Division crown.
Fayetteville State won by the scores of 25-19, 25-21 and 25-19 to improve to 10-4 overall and 10-3 in CIAA play. The Lady Broncos improved to 6-1 in divisional play, remaining half a game behind division-unbeaten St. Augustine's in the standings.
The Lady Broncos will hit the road for the next two weeks, and won't return home to the friendly confines of Capel Arena until an Oct. 26 date with Winston-Salem State. Coach
Reeshemah Johnson is hopeful the team can remain focused on the task at hand - building momentum for another run in the CIAA Tournament.
"It will be another opportunity for us to show our toughness," Johnson said. "The girls feed off of their supporters, and it's hard to build momentum on the road when you're in somebody else's home base. We can do it as long as the girls all show up for the matches and have the confidence in themselves that I have in them."
Jessica Hardy (Fr., Fayetteville, NC) led all players with 14 kills while Ifeyinwa Nwokolo (So., Greesnboro, NC) added 10 as the Lady Broncos played without All-CIAA outside hitter Samantha Meeks (Sr., Laurinburg, NC), who was resting a minor injury. Achari Mainor (Sr., Antioch, CA) had a game-high 25 assists to go with five digs and three service aces while Octavia Wynn (So., Hope Mills, NC) had six kills and Joi Emanuel (So., Charlotte, NC) added five. Hardy and JaMisha Jordan (Fr., Fayetteville, NC) had six digs apiece.
Fayetteville raced out to a 9-3 lead in the first set after Livingstone (10-10, 6-7), which arrived at the arena without time to warm up, got off to a sluggish start. The game was more competitive after that, however, but the Lady Broncos mustered a late 7-2 run to take a commanding 23-14 edge before taking care of the rest of the set.
The second set was tight in the early going, with Livingstone even taking a slim lead. But the Lady Broncos responded with a three-point flurry late after Johnson called a timeout, and after a block by Hardy and Sierra Gilmore (Fr., Stedman, NC), Hardy blasted a kill to give FSU a 2-0 advantage after the 25-21 victory.
Fayetteville State was poised to run over the Lady Blue Bears in the third set, using a 10-0 spurt that featured kills by Hardy, Emanuel and Nwokolo to take a 20-7 lead. Livingstone battled back with a 6-0 run to make it 20-13, but a Wynn kill and an Emanuel kill handed the Lady Broncos a relatively easy 25-19 victory.
Fayetteville State travels for a critical match against St. Augustine's on Oct. 18. A victory would even the season series between the Southern Division's two heavyweights.
The road ahead may be tough, but Johnson believes her team, after a spirited scrimmage last Saturday, will be ready to begin its push for a fourth straight appearance in the CIAA Tournament final.
"We had an outstanding practice and scrimmage," Johnson said. "If we can find that intensity and play that way for the remainder of the season, we have a chance to do well."
Livingstone was led by Lakitta Hick's six kills and Shannon Allen's 10 assists. Michelle Thompson had a match-high nine digs against the Lady Broncos' vaunted attack.
