UMES freshman outside hitter Maline Vaitai may hold the key to the Lady Hawks' MEAC title hopes. Picture by Keith Henry By Keith Henry
Well, another volleyball regular season has flown by and this Friday marks tournament time in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Morgan State, UMES and Howard have qualified for this weekend’s 2010 MEAC Volleyball Tournament at Coppin State University on November 19-21.
Morgan State (6-19, 4-6 MEAC) just qualified for the #4 spot in the north by sweeping Hampton 3-0 in the last match of the regular season. Their prize is a match-up against the nine-time defending MEAC champion and top seed from the south Florida A&M on Friday @ 4 pm. Florida A&M lost 3-2 @ South Carolina State for their only MEAC loss. But that means nothing coming into the tournament because the Rattlerettes have been so hard to beat when the stakes are at its highest.
Head coach Ramona Riley-Bozier is looking forward to this match-up saying, “FAMU is who they are. I watched them a little bit on ESPNU against Bethune-Cookman (FAMU won 3-1)and it’s not the same team. But they are still capable of getting it done. So right now, you can’t wish to play anyone in particular because everybody is playing well.”
Senior middle hitter Dominique Bozier wants to stay around for more than one round. “We need to come out and play with our hearts on the floor,” said Bozier. “We (need to) leave everything out there and we can leave with the win & advance to the second round. It’s been four years since we last advanced to the second round. Right now, we’re at the starting line and we just got to get to the finish line.”
In order to do that, Riley-Bozier is depending heavily on sophomore outside hitter Erin Cox to produce big for the Lady Bears and sophomore setter Jourdan Lemons to help get Bozier, freshman setter/right side Ngebui (Natalie) Chafeh and sophomore outside hitter Ashley Johnson more involved in the offense.
The top seed in the north is UMES. The Lady Hawks overcame a lot of struggles early in the season to win their fourth straight MEAC North title. They will face a Bethune-Cookman squad that is best described as scrappy and one of the more dangerous teams in the field if the Wildcats are taken lightly. UMES (19-11, 8-2 MEAC) probably learned something from their surprising 3-0 loss at Howard to end the season. They’ll need to come out on the floor and step up their game if they have desires on reaching the finals for the third straight year.
Head coach Don Metil has high praises on freshman outside hitter Maline Vaitai. Vaitai is a contender for ‘Freshman of the Year’ honors and Metil believes that she should also contend for ‘Player of the Year’ honors as well. Metil says about Vaitai, “There’s hardly anyone playing better than (Maline) right now in the MEAC. She leads the conference in points per set, kills per set and she is a phenomenal athlete. She has the most kills in a single matchout of any player in the MEAC this year with 26. She has the most single set kills against anyone (seven in the first set against Morgan in a 3-0 win). Those numbers are hard to refute. If anyone does come up with an answer for her, good for them because we like the way she is playing right now. We just need her to play a little bit better back row for us.” UMES battles B-CU on Friday @ 1 pm.
Howard (8-19, 5-5 MEAC) made a late run during the last part of the MEAC scheduleto get into the tournament as the #3 seed in the North. Howard is considered the dark horse in this seemingly wide-open tournament field. One of the reasons the Lady Bison have a chance at the MEAC title is junior right side Tosin Elebute. Elebute has led Howard in kills all season long and she has one of the meanest jump serves in the MEAC. Elebute is a strong ‘Player of the Year’ candidate as well. The seniors in outside hitter Gazelle D’Artois, middle hitter Keri Partridge and libero Nicole Brown also help lead the charge under first year head coach Dawn Barnes. If the Lady Bison are firing on all cylinders this weekend, a run to the finals or possibly a MEAC championship would not be a surprise. Howard faces the #2 seed in the South in South Carolina State on Friday @ 10 am.
Also, North #2 seed Delaware State plays South #3 seed Norfolk State in the nightcap on Friday @ 7 pm.
Coach Riley-Bozier knows how interesting this tournament can be saying, “(The MEAC Tournament) is truly open for anybody who wants it the most, makes the least errors and those key players come out to play. That’s what it’s all about.”
Well, another volleyball regular season has flown by and this Friday marks tournament time in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Morgan State, UMES and Howard have qualified for this weekend’s 2010 MEAC Volleyball Tournament at Coppin State University on November 19-21.
Morgan State (6-19, 4-6 MEAC) just qualified for the #4 spot in the north by sweeping Hampton 3-0 in the last match of the regular season. Their prize is a match-up against the nine-time defending MEAC champion and top seed from the south Florida A&M on Friday @ 4 pm. Florida A&M lost 3-2 @ South Carolina State for their only MEAC loss. But that means nothing coming into the tournament because the Rattlerettes have been so hard to beat when the stakes are at its highest.
Head coach Ramona Riley-Bozier is looking forward to this match-up saying, “FAMU is who they are. I watched them a little bit on ESPNU against Bethune-Cookman (FAMU won 3-1)and it’s not the same team. But they are still capable of getting it done. So right now, you can’t wish to play anyone in particular because everybody is playing well.”
Senior middle hitter Dominique Bozier wants to stay around for more than one round. “We need to come out and play with our hearts on the floor,” said Bozier. “We (need to) leave everything out there and we can leave with the win & advance to the second round. It’s been four years since we last advanced to the second round. Right now, we’re at the starting line and we just got to get to the finish line.”
In order to do that, Riley-Bozier is depending heavily on sophomore outside hitter Erin Cox to produce big for the Lady Bears and sophomore setter Jourdan Lemons to help get Bozier, freshman setter/right side Ngebui (Natalie) Chafeh and sophomore outside hitter Ashley Johnson more involved in the offense.
The top seed in the north is UMES. The Lady Hawks overcame a lot of struggles early in the season to win their fourth straight MEAC North title. They will face a Bethune-Cookman squad that is best described as scrappy and one of the more dangerous teams in the field if the Wildcats are taken lightly. UMES (19-11, 8-2 MEAC) probably learned something from their surprising 3-0 loss at Howard to end the season. They’ll need to come out on the floor and step up their game if they have desires on reaching the finals for the third straight year.
Head coach Don Metil has high praises on freshman outside hitter Maline Vaitai. Vaitai is a contender for ‘Freshman of the Year’ honors and Metil believes that she should also contend for ‘Player of the Year’ honors as well. Metil says about Vaitai, “There’s hardly anyone playing better than (Maline) right now in the MEAC. She leads the conference in points per set, kills per set and she is a phenomenal athlete. She has the most kills in a single matchout of any player in the MEAC this year with 26. She has the most single set kills against anyone (seven in the first set against Morgan in a 3-0 win). Those numbers are hard to refute. If anyone does come up with an answer for her, good for them because we like the way she is playing right now. We just need her to play a little bit better back row for us.” UMES battles B-CU on Friday @ 1 pm.
Howard (8-19, 5-5 MEAC) made a late run during the last part of the MEAC scheduleto get into the tournament as the #3 seed in the North. Howard is considered the dark horse in this seemingly wide-open tournament field. One of the reasons the Lady Bison have a chance at the MEAC title is junior right side Tosin Elebute. Elebute has led Howard in kills all season long and she has one of the meanest jump serves in the MEAC. Elebute is a strong ‘Player of the Year’ candidate as well. The seniors in outside hitter Gazelle D’Artois, middle hitter Keri Partridge and libero Nicole Brown also help lead the charge under first year head coach Dawn Barnes. If the Lady Bison are firing on all cylinders this weekend, a run to the finals or possibly a MEAC championship would not be a surprise. Howard faces the #2 seed in the South in South Carolina State on Friday @ 10 am.
Also, North #2 seed Delaware State plays South #3 seed Norfolk State in the nightcap on Friday @ 7 pm.
Coach Riley-Bozier knows how interesting this tournament can be saying, “(The MEAC Tournament) is truly open for anybody who wants it the most, makes the least errors and those key players come out to play. That’s what it’s all about.”
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