DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.-The haunting memory from the 2012 North
Carolina A&T volleyball season will be the fifth set. For the sixth time in
2012, the improving Aggies program went five sets with an opponent. And for the
sixth time, they came up short. This time Bethune-Cookman defeated the Aggies 25-20,
16-25, 25-20, 21-25, 15-5 Sunday afternoon at Moore Gymnasium. It was the
second five-set match the Aggies and Wildcats engaged in this season.
The Aggies had just two kills in the fifth frame, and the
Wildcats were able to take advantage of A&T errors to win the match. The Wildcats tallied nine straight points
to take a 13-2 lead. The Aggies were
unable to stop the BCU offense in the end.
"The fifth set was not good.
We played well enough to win, but made some unforced errors at critical
points along the way--signs of a young team," said A&T head coach Hal Clifton.
The Aggies were led by freshman Brooke Stamnes who tallied
her seventh double-double of the year with 16 kills and a season-best 22 digs. Freshman Aleena McDaniel also recorded 16 kills
in the contest, to match her season best.
Freshman Ashley Johnson posted 15 digs in the set to move to 428 on the
year, which are the fifth most digs in a single season in program history.
"I'm proud of the way
our team competed today. We have grown a
lot this year. But we have a tremendous
amount of learning still left to do," Clifton said.
The Aggies took a 2-1 match lead behind McDaniel who posted
six kills in both the second and third sets.
In the second game, the Aggies
went on a 7-0 run to take a commanding lead.
The Wildcats didn't get closer than five points in the entire set. The Wildcats (5-25, 5-4) put up more of a
fight in the third set, tying the game at 18 on a block by Destiny Hudson and
Jordan Murray. But kills from senior
Andrea Evans and McDaniel gave A&T back the lead. The Wildcats pulled within one at 21-20 on a
McDaniel attack error, but a kill by McDaniel and three BCU attack errors gave
A&T their 25th set win.
But in the fourth set, the Aggies hit only .129 and made
seven errors, while the Wildcats hit .353.
A&T tied the set at 19 on an attack error by Krysta Gardner. A kill from Evans brought A&T within one
at 21-20, but the Wildcats collected three consecutive points to pull
ahead. A kill from Aria Cormier tied up
the match at two set victories apiece and to send the match into a decisive fifth
frame.
The Aggies(1-29, 1-7) will return home for the final two matches of
the regular season, and will look to improve upon their win total from last
fall. A&T will host Savannah State
on Friday, Nov. 9 at 6 p.m., and will take on S.C. State on Sunday, Nov. 11 at
1 p.m.
