RALEIGH, N.C. – Saint Augustine's College proved it was worthy of a volleyball championship on Monday.
Trailing 2-1 to CIAA rival Fayetteville State, the Lady Falcons bounced back to take a thrilling 3-2 victory to clinch the Southern Division crown inside raucous Emery Gymnasium. The victory gave the Lady Falcons (16-7 overall) an 8-0 division mark with two divisional matches left. The Lady Broncos (11-5 overall), who were seeking to move into a first-place tie with the Lady Falcons, dropped to 6-2 in the division. The Lady Falcons would win the tiebreaker if both teams finished the regular season tied in the division.
The division crown is the first under fourth-year head coach Covance Mortimer and the first since 2003 when Mortimer was an assistant on the Lady Falcon squad which also won the CIAA title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
"It's been a rewarding season," said Mortimer, whose record was 9-22 his first season as Lady Falcon coach. "I am excited for our players. They have been through a lot from losing 22 matches to where we are now."
Kathryn Tokarski (Jr./Saskatchewan, Canada) led the Lady Falcons with 17 kills and 19 digs in the 26-24, 23-25, 17-25, 25-14, 15-8 victory. Brittany Hicks (So./Louisburg, N.C.) added nine kills and four blocking assists while Shakira Carter (Sr./St. Michael, Barbados) had eight kills, 16 digs and four blocking assists. Roxanne Smith (Jr./St. Catherine, Jamaica) gave out 39 assists while Keisha Parris (Jr./St. Catherine, Jamaica) and Nicolette Campbell (Jr./Nassau, Bahamas) added 13 and 12 digs respectively.
Ifeyinwa Nwokolo led the Lady Broncos with 16 kills while Samantha Meeks added 11 kills and Jessica Hardy contributed 10 kills. Jamisha Jordan had 22 digs, Achari Mainor handed out 31 assists and had four blocking assists while Sierra Gilmore had 7 blocking assists in the seesaw battle.
In the past, the Lady Falcons would have folded after falling behind to league contenders such as the Lady Broncos, who won the 2007 CIAA title and were runner-ups the past two seasons. This year's team showed resolve Monday as it has done throughout the year.
“We believed in each other,” Campbell said. “We believed that each player was capable of doing what we were supposed to do despite the situation.”
The Falcons rebounded to win the fourth game to tie the match. The momentum carried over in the fifth match, which they won despite trailing by three points early.
“The one thing about this team is they do not give up,” Mortimer said. “They stepped up when they needed to. In the past, they would have given up being down 2-1.”
The victory set off a celebration on the court. The fans mobbed the players as they hugged each other.
Now that they are Southern Division champs, the Lady Falcons have their eyes on a bigger prize.
“This is a stepping stone,” Carter said. “We are coming for the CIAA championship.”
