TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Taking on the defending Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) champions, Alabama A&M (7-24, 6-9 SWAC) went toe-to-toe with Florida A&M (16-12, 13-1 SWAC) early before fading in a 3-0 loss in an NCAA Division I women's volleyball match on Monday, November 7.
 
The Bulldogs would grab early leads at 8-3 and 17-11 before three straight points put FAMU back within striking distance. With the score at 19-15, the Rattlers rallied with a 4-0 burst to knot it up before the clubs alternated points to land at 20-20.
 
A&M would then take three of the next four points to pull ahead 23-21 but a kill by Dominique Washington and a ball handling error tied it up once again. Freshman middle blocker Kemora Coachman (Harvest, Ala.) drove home a kill to earn set point but the Bulldogs would not be able to capitalize as FAMU forced three straight errors to pull out the 26-24 victory.
 
Alabama A&M would open strong again, scoring the first five points on their way to a 7-4 advantage at the start of Game 2. From there, however, the tide would turn as Florida A&M erupted for 9-1 run that flipped the script and put them ahead 13-8.
 
The Bulldogs would stem the tide as they split the next eight points but would see the set essentially get put out of reach with a 5-0 burst that made it 22-12. A 6-1 run narrowed the margin to six before FAMU wrapped it up at 25-17.
 
A&M opened Game 3 with an 8-6 lead but that would quickly change as the Rattlers struck with a decimating 14-1 run. That punishing stretch left the Bulldogs down 20-10 and Florida A&M would make it a 19-3 overall run as they closed out the frame 25-11 and the match 3-0.
 
Freshman outside hitter Bailey Duckett (Huntsville, Ala.) delivered 10 kills to go with seven digs and freshman setter Grace Tapscott (Hartselle, Ala.) finished with 23 assists and six digs. Freshman outside hitter Caitlin Shaw (Desoto, Texas) rounded out the top performances with five kills and four digs.
 
Washington led FAMU with a match-high 14 kills along with eight digs and Irem Ucar dished out 33 assists. Brooke Hudson anchored the defense with 13 digs and Aja Jones and Brooke Lynn Watts each added six kills.
 
The Bulldogs close out the regular season when they host rival Alabama State on Friday, November 11. First serve is set for 6 p.m. at Elmore Gymnasium.
 
NOTE
This release was delayed due to the unavailability of statistics due to on-site issues the day of the match.