CARTERSVILLE, Georgia – North Carolina A&T State is 2-0 in volleyball for the second straight season after opening their 2018 season with wins over Southwestern Athletic Conference teams Alabama A&M and Alabama State on the first day of the ISTAP College Cup Tournament at the LakePoint Champions Center.N.C. A&T defeated the AAMU Bulldogs in four sets (32-30, 22-25, 25-17, 25-21) before beating the ASU Hornets, a perennial SWAC power, in four sets (25-16, 25-21, 24-26, 25-20). The Hornets came into the season winners of four out of the last five SWAC titles and they were 18-0 in the SWAC last season.
“We played well in both matches to open our season,” said N.C. A&T coach Hal Clifton. “We can do a lot of different things when we have four consistent attackers at the net. Our defense also played well in our first action of the year.”
Sophomore Courteney Pitt finished with 17 kills tying her career high while sophomore Edie Brewer set recorded a career-best 46 assists against AAMU. Brewer nearly had her second career triple-double as she also finished with 10 digs and nine kills.
Freshmen Macenzie Richards and Lily Walton added 13 and 11 kills apiece, respectively. The Aggies posted a .263 hitting percentage led by Brewer (.467), junior Makaylah Elliot (.462) and Walton (.381). Defensively, freshman Andrea Laboy-Rivera collected 22 digs as the Aggies held the Bulldogs to a .180 hitting percentage.
In a thrilling opening set, the Bulldogs held a 15-11 advantage before Elliot gave the Aggies their first lead at 16-15, but a pair of errors by N.C. A&T gave the Bulldogs a 19-17advantage. Behind the leadership of Brewer, the Aggies fought back and used a pair of her kills to jump ahead 24-22. AAMU used two straight errors by the Aggies to tie the score at 24.
N.C. A&T fought off defeat three times before a Brewer kill and a Walton ace gave the Aggies the first-set victory.
Pitt matched her six kills in the first set by adding six more in the second anchoring the Aggies attack. AAMU built a 10-4 advantage and later extended it to 16-6 off miscues by the Aggies. Pitt began to bring the Aggies back with three kills during a 10-2 run. The Aggies eventually got the lead down to 21-20 but two N.C. A&T attack errors down the stretch proved costly as AAMU took set No. 2.
In the third set, N.C. A&T recorded their best attack percentage of the match .379 committing only three errors to power the third-set victory. Elliot had four kills and Walton, Richards and Wilson had three apiece.
Solid defense forced the Bulldogs into an error-filled final set. Pitt once again carried the offense with five kills while Laboy-Rivera had seven digs. With the set tied at 18, Pitt had two kills during a 7-3 run to propel the Aggies as the Aggies took the set and match.
In their second match of the day, the Aggies performed well. In the first set, the Aggies controlled the momentum and after a Wilson service ace, took a commanding 19-9 advantage. ASU responded with a quick 6-0 run coming within four points, but the Aggies ended the set with four kills and two aces for the win. ASU committed nine errors in the second set and once again trailed the entire way. The Aggies produced 13 kills led by Brewer’s four to take a 2-0 match lead.
The Hornets had their strongest showing in the third set with 12 kills while the Aggies committed nine errors. Despite the miscues, Wiggins fired three consecutive service aces to tie the set at 23. But the Hornets closed the set with a kill and an Aggies attack error to take their first set of the match.
But the Aggies recovered in the fourth. The Hornets ran out of gas and was held to a negative hitting percentage (-.107). Pitt, Wilson and Brewer combined for 10 of the Aggies 14 kills in Set 4 helping their offense regroup from a slow third set.
ASU led 5-0 early until N.C. A&T went on a 12-1 run taking a 12-6 advantage. The Aggies never trailed again and had three consecutive kills to go ahead, 21-16. Errors in the final four points swung the match N.C. A&T's favor as the Hornets struggled and aa the Aggies snapped a three-match losing streak to the Hornets that dated back to the 2013 season.
N.C. A&T wraps up their season-opening tournament against Jackson State 11 a.m., Saturday.
A&T 3, AAMU 1
A&T 3, Alabama State 1
NORTH CAROLINA A&T STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
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