The injury-riddled, shorthanded team (8-21, 7-3 in MEAC)
fell in Saturday’s semifinals to Northern Division champion Howard University
(17-13), 3-1 (20-25, 20-25, 28-26, 19-25).
Junior Starmichael Tucker led FAMU with 15 kills. Seniors Tamar Fowler and Ginna Lopez had nine kills apiece, junior first-team All-MEAC middle blocker Deija Martin had eight kills and sophomore Pamela Soriano added six kills.
Sophomore Valeria Lopez had 40 assists, while freshman
Valentina Carrasco led with 17 digs, followed by Soriano with 15 and junior
Gaia Bellesi with 14.
FAMU opened the tourney Friday morning by winning a
thrilling five-set match against host Maryland-Eastern Shore (22-7) by a 3-2 count
(24-26, 25-21, 25-21, 20-25, 15-12), taking the deciding fifth set, 15-12.
Pamela Soriano led FAMU with 13 kills, adding 14 digs,
followed by Starmichael Tucker’s 12 kills and 16 digs, and 10 kills from Deija
Martin. Ginna Lopez and Tamar Fowler each added nine (9) kills.
Valentina Carrasco led with 24 digs, Valeria Lopez dished
out 47 assists and made 12 digs.