Despite the defeat, the Lady Falcons will advance to the CIAA Tournament if they defeat Livingstone College and Shaw University in their final two matches next week. The top four Southern Division teams qualify for the tournament, which will be held Nov. 20-22 in Fayetteville, N.C.
The Lady Falcons are currently fifth in the division at 2-6 while Livingstone is fourth at 3-5. Both teams will meet for the second time in a critical CIAA Southern Division match at Emery Gymnasium in Raleigh, N.C., on Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 6 p.m. Livingstone won the first meeting in four sets on Oct. 12 in Salisbury, N.C.
If the Lady Falcons and Livingstone split the season series and end the regular season tied for fourth, the Lady Falcons will play in the tournament due to a better conference record. The Lady Falcons are currently 7-7 in the CIAA and 11-12 overall while Livingstone is 4-10 in the conference and 9-13 overall.
Against Fayetteville State, Zoey Isom (Fr./Phoenix, AZ) recorded 15 digs for the Lady Falcons, who lost by scores of 15-25, 23-25, 9-25. Mikayla Pettyjohn (So./Jamestown, NC) and Dionna Hopkins (Sr./St. Croix, US Virgin Islands) each had two block assists.
The Lady Falcons played the Lady Broncos even in the early portion of the match. The score was tied 14-14 in the first set, but the Lady Broncos went on a 9-1 run to go up 1-0.
The second set was much tighter. The Lady Falcons led 20-18, but were outscored 7-3 to lose the set. In the third set, the Lady Falcons fell behind 13-5 and never recovered.
For Fayetteville State (6-2 Southern Division, 8-4 CIAA, 11-9 overall), Shavon Shaw finished with 11 kills and 10 digs. Jessica Hardy added 23 assists and Samira Luis totaled 23 digs for the Lady Broncos, who had more kills (41-20) and a higher attack percentage (.236-.-009) than the Lady Falcons.
The Lady Falcons will attempt to bounce back against Livingstone Tuesday on Senior Night. They will honor both Thomas and Hopkins.
— Office of Sports Information
