{"id":417509,"date":"2026-10-03T06:10:33","date_gmt":"2026-10-03T06:10:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/417509\/"},"modified":"2026-10-03T06:10:33","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T06:10:33","slug":"trantham-sanford-help-rattlers-surge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/417509\/","title":{"rendered":"Trantham, Sanford Help Rattlers Surge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>                    &#13;<br \/>\n                        &#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<\/p>\n<p>                <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/jsu_logo.png\" alt=\"Jackson State\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                Next Match:<\/p>\n<p>at Jackson State<\/p>\n<p>10\/4\/2026 | 1 p.m.<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n                        SWAC TV  &#13;\n                    <\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n                    Oct. 04 (Sun) \/ 1 p.m.&#13;\n                <\/p>\n<p>                    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sidearm-story-template-next-game-opponent-logo\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/jsu_logo.png\" alt=\"Jackson State\"\/><\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n                        at\u00a0Jackson State&#13;\n                    <\/p>\n<p>                    <a class=\"sidearm-story-template-next-game-details-history\" href=\"https:\/\/famuathletics.com\/sports\/womens-volleyball\/opponent-history\/jackson-state\/219\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">History <\/a><\/p>\n<p>                             &#13;<\/p>\n<p>                    ITTA BENA, Miss.\u00a0\u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/famuathletics.com\/sports\/womens-volleyball\/roster\/ladonna-trantham\/5509\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"5509\" target=\"_blank\">LaDonna Trantham<\/a> finished with 20 kills, and Florida A&amp;M ran away with the last two sets to beat Mississippi Valley State by a score of 3-1 in Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Volleyball on Friday afternoon inside Harrison HPER Complex in Itta Bena, Mississippi. The Rattlers took the match on scores of 25-16, 22-25, 25-11, 25-14.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\nFlorida A&amp;M (7-9, 2-1 SWAC) hit .292 as a team, while the Delta Devils were limited to just a .091 attack mark and committed 21 errors overall.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nIn the first set, FAMU trailed 5-3 before scoring six straight points.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nA block by <a href=\"https:\/\/famuathletics.com\/sports\/womens-volleyball\/roster\/sydney-whitfield\/5510\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"5510\" target=\"_blank\">Sydney Whitfield<\/a> \u2013 the reigning SWAC Offensive Player of the Week, and senior middle blocker <a href=\"https:\/\/famuathletics.com\/sports\/womens-volleyball\/roster\/farah-farooq\/4550\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"4550\" target=\"_blank\">Farah Farooq<\/a> tied it at 5-5, and four consecutive kills from Farooq, <a href=\"https:\/\/famuathletics.com\/sports\/womens-volleyball\/roster\/ladonna-trantham\/5509\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"5509\" target=\"_blank\">LaDonna Trantham<\/a>, Sanford and Farooq again made it 9-5 with <a href=\"https:\/\/famuathletics.com\/sports\/womens-volleyball\/roster\/victoria-santana\/5507\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"5507\" target=\"_blank\">Victoria Santana<\/a> serving. Setter <a href=\"https:\/\/famuathletics.com\/sports\/womens-volleyball\/roster\/bengisu-kazazlar\/5503\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"5503\" target=\"_blank\">Bengisu Kazazlar<\/a> later served two aces in a five-point burst that stretched the lead from 15-11 to 20-11. <a href=\"https:\/\/famuathletics.com\/sports\/womens-volleyball\/roster\/iyonnie-sanford\/4340\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"4340\" target=\"_blank\">Iyonnie Sanford<\/a> had five kills in the set without an error.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nMississippi Valley State (1-12, 0-4 SWAC) answered in the second set, which was tied nine times. For the visitors, the second set continues to plague FAMU head coach <a href=\"https:\/\/famuathletics.com\/sports\/womens-volleyball\/roster\/coaches\/gokhan-yilmaz\/603\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"603\" target=\"_blank\">Gokhan Yilmaz<\/a> and his side over the past few weeks.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nWith the Delta Devilettes up 16-15, they scored five straight points \u2013 four of them on Dashaun Pinesette&#8217;s serve, to lead 21-15. FAMU rallied from 24-18 down with four straight points, including a Kazazlar ace, to get within 24-22, but Kameryn Browne finished it with a kill.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nThe third set turned on one long stretch.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nMVSU led 4-2 early-on before the Orange And Green scored 13 consecutive points, 12 of them with Trantham serving. Her two aces were part of the run, which also included five Delta Devilettes attack errors and two bad sets. In all, MVSU had nine attack errors against six kills in the set, respectfully.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nFAMU led most of the fourth set and put it away with another six-point run, from 17-12 to 23-12, with Kazazlar on-serve for the Rattlers. Farooq and <a href=\"https:\/\/famuathletics.com\/sports\/womens-volleyball\/roster\/tamia-coleman\/4685\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"4685\" target=\"_blank\">Tamia Coleman<\/a> combined on a block during the stretch. Trantham had nine kills in the set while hitting .533, while the hosts were held to an even .000 clip.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nWhitfield closed it with a kill.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nTrantham hit .486 on 37 swings with only two errors and added two aces in the process. For the Homewood, Illinois native, it was her third time on the season accumulating 20 ore kills in a single match, and her first of the SWAC season, respectively.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nAlso playing well for the Orange and Green was Sanford had 13 kills while hitting .423. It was Sanford&#8217;s third time this season topping double-digit kills in a match. Farooq, who had eight kills and a team- and match-high three block assists, was aided in the lineup by Whitfield, who had seven kills, three aces and 11 digs.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nKazazlar ran the offense with 21 assists and three aces, and libero <a href=\"https:\/\/famuathletics.com\/sports\/womens-volleyball\/roster\/victoria-santana\/5507\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"5507\" target=\"_blank\">Victoria Santana<\/a> handled 26 serve receptions without an error.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nTaylor Wooten led Mississippi Valley State with 10 kills, and Aubrie Walker added eight while hitting .375. Erin Mims had 13 assists from her setter position on the floor.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nFAMU continues its &#8220;Magnolia State&#8221; run on Sunday, Oct. 4, when the Rattlers visit Jackson State at 1 p.m. EDT (Noon CDT) in Jackson, Mississippi. The match will be streamed on SWAC TV.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\nFollow Florida A&amp;M Athletics on Twitter (<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/FAMUAthletics\" rel=\"nofollow\">@FAMUathletics<\/a>) for all the latest news and updates. Follow us on Instagram (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.instagram.com\/famuathletics\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">@FAMUathletics<\/a>) and Facebook (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FAMUAth\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">FAMUath<\/a>)<a name=\"class\"\/> for even further behind-the-scenes action across all Rattlers Athletics.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>                <script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"&#13; &#13; &#13; Next Match: at Jackson State 10\/4\/2026 | 1 p.m. &#13; SWAC TV &#13; &#13; Oct.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":417510,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-417509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=417509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417509\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/417510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=417509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=417509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=417509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}