Bracket

WASHINGTON, D.C., Nov. 16, 2018—Florida A&M survived a scare Friday afternoon in Burr Gymnasium, defeating Morgan State 3-2 (21-25, 25-16, 23-25, 25-19, 15-10) in the quarterfinal round of the 2018 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Volleyball Championships.

The Lady Rattlers (12-15) will face North Carolina A&T State on Saturday in the semifinal round at 5 p.m. 

Maria Yvette Garcia, a First Team All-MEAC honoree, led Florida A&M with 25 kills on .312 hitting. Aybuke Kocabiyik had 11 kills, hitting a team-best .500. Ilayda Nurkan chipped in 46 assists, and Valentina Carrasco led three Lady Rattlers in double figures with 16 digs.

"We knew coming in that Morgan State was a tough team," Florida A&M head coach Gokhan Yilmaz said. "Morgan State did not lose this match … we looked like we were too relaxed to play [in the first set]. We have to go out there and make plays, make things happen. Somebody had to earn the match."

Morgan State (13-16) made a bid to become the second No. 4 seed in as many seasons to win a quarterfinal match, taking the first and third sets. But the Lady Rattlers bounced back in the fourth set, hitting .306 in the frame to stave off the Lady Bears and force the deciding fifth set.

"We can use this match to build character," Carrasco said. "I think this will be good for tomorrow and we'll be ready to play." 

Morgan State opened the fifth set with a 4-1 spurt, culminating in a Zoe McBride kill. But Florida A&M answered with four unanswered points, cutting the lead to 5-4 on a Nurkan service ace and forcing the Lady Bears to take a timeout.

"They jumped on us," Yilmaz said. 

From there, the Lady Rattlers had all the momentum, taking the lead for good at 7-6. Radka Dimitrova had the final point of the match, a kill that gave Florida A&M the set 15-10.

"We knew it wasn't going to be easy," Morgan State head coach Ramona Riley-Bozier said. "Our goal was to go out there and give it all we had, not really concern ourselves with whether we would lose."

McBride led Morgan State with 20 kills. Cristen Coryatt added 15 kills.