BOCA RATON, Fla. – Alabama A&M (0-1, 0-0 SWAC) broke the seal on the 2022 campaign but despite being competitive in all three sets dropped a 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-18) decision to host Florida Atlantic (1-0, 0-0 C-USA) in an NCAA Division I women's volleyball match at the FAU Invitational on Friday, August 26.
The Owls would waste little time in asserting themselves as they jumped out to a 7-2 lead and extended to 16-9 midway through. A&M would rebound to take four of the next seven points and cut the deficit to 19-14 but a 6-4 stretch by FAU locked up a 25-18 opening set victory for a 1-0 advantage.
The Bulldogs would take the first two points of the second set on their way to leads of 3-2, 5-4 and 6-5 before a 6-2 burst by Florida Atlantic flipped the script and put them ahead 11-8. Consecutive points would bring it back to a one-point margin before the Owls used a 14-4 run, including the last nine points, to go up 2-0 with a 25-14 decision.
The third set would once again see Alabama A&M come out of the gate strong, this time taking a 3-1 lead before seeing their 5-4 advantage dissipate into a 11-8 FAU lead. A 10-3 outburst would then essentially put the match out of reach as it put the Owls lead at 21-11.
Despite the daunting task, the Bulldogs surrendered no ground as they scored seven of the next 10 points to pull to within 24-18 before an Arianna Beckham kill sealed the seven-point set decision and 3-0 match victory for FAU.
Freshman outside hitter
Bailey Duckett (Huntsville, Ala.) led the way for Alabama A&M, just missing a double-double with nine kills and eight digs, along with a pair of service aces and fellow freshman outside hitter
Caitlin Shaw (Desoto, Texas) matched her with nine kills. Fueling that offense was sophomore setter
Keyara Brooks (Arlington, Texas) with 17 assists.
Freshman middle blocker
Madison Reagins (Duncanville, Texas) added five digs, four kills and a pair of blocks with freshman libero
Tammy Melendez Mondragon (Pelham, Ala.) notching six digs. Rounding out the defensive effort was freshman middle blocker
Kemora Coachman (Harvest, Ala.) with three digs and two blocks and sophomore middle blocker
Ryann Tolbert (Southfield, Mich.) chipping in with a pair of blocks.
Noelle Stephens anchored FAU's offensive performance with a match-high 39 assists to go with four digs and Valeria Rosado finished with 14 kills, eight digs, five service aces and two blocks. Joining her on the attack was Katelynn Robine with a match-best 17 kills with six digs and Camryn Vogler chipped in with four assists, six digs and an ace.
The Bulldogs will be right back in action at 3:30 p.m. as they take on Lehigh in their second match of the 2022 FAU Invitational. This will be the first meeting with the Mountain Hawks in program history.
