AT A GLANCE
No. 4 FMU Lions (21-10, 12-5) vs. No. 2 Coastal Georgia Mariners (20-8, 12-4)
When: Saturday, November 16, 2019
Where: Keiser University, West Palm Beach, Florida | Massimino Court
Start: 1 p.m.
Last Meeting: Nov. 2, 2019, FMU win 3-1 (25-11, 22-25, 25-13, 25-11)
Live Stream Video & Stats: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/keiser/
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – All season, Florida Memorial University women's volleyball head coach
Marrita Crockett-Moulton has talked about her team having a "championship mindset".
It's easy to "talk the talk', but Crockett-Moulton's team has "walked the walk" up to this point, going on an already-historic run and being in position to capture the school's first Sun Conference Volleyball Tournament championship Saturday.
The Lions (21-10, 12-5 Sun Conference), the No. 4 seed in the tournament, will faceoff with No. 2 College of Coastal Georgia at 1 p.m. in the conference title game at Keiser University.
FMU's run to the championship game has been something of straight out of a Hollywood sports classic; the first-year head coach, with a relatively young team, facing mid-season adversities, having to rally to win at the highest levels.
In Friday night's semifinal win over No. 1 seed and tournament host Keiser University, Florida Memorial had to overcome a 2-1 match deficit, had to rally back from a 14-12 deficit in the fifth set, and outlasted the Seahawks through three extra-points ties before taking the decisive set 19-17 in front of a large, enthusiastic crowd that included a fan bus from FMU.
After playing such a pressure-filled and emotional semifinal game, one that lasted nearly two-and-a-half hours, Crockett-Moulton's Lions have to quickly regroup and refocus to face a College of Coastal Georgia team that made easy of Southeastern University with a three-game sweep in the other semifinal earlier Friday.
Saturday's championship game will be the third meeting between the Lions and the Mariners. The two teams split the season series, with each team winning on the other's home floor – the most recent being a 3-1 win for FMU two weeks ago.
It'll be interesting to see the strategy Crockett-Moulton uses against Coastal Georgia. Friday, she went to Jessenia Bonilla and
Dayla Hall up front and both delivered – especially Hall who registered four of her six kills during the fifth set. Freshman and First-Team All-Sun Conference performer
Biancaliz Cruz had a relatively quiet game in the semifinal but could easily bounce back and put her fingerprints all over the championship game, as could junior
Daphinie Correa or sophomore
Rachele Mancinelli – who both played huge roles in Friday's victory.
Crockett-Moulton just wants her team to stick to its own identity.
"It's always been a group effort for us – all season," Crockett-Moulton said. "We need everyone. We have so many options on this team, I can manipulate the lineup any way I need to. But we're an emotional group that plays with a lot of passion and I want them to continue to use that to fuel them."
