TALLAHASEE, Fla. – The North Carolina A&T volleyball team closed out its Florida trip over the weekend with a tough three-set loss to Florida A&M, 25-16, 13, 16 on Sunday afternoon. The loss follows a four-set loss to Bethune-Cookman on Friday night as the Aggies went 4-9 overall and 2-3 in the MEAC.

The Aggies will play out of the conference over the next two Tuesdays before re-entering conference play against N.C. Central on Oct. 23 at Moore Gymnasium at 7 p.m. On Sunday, the Rattlers (4-14, 4-1 MEAC) were nearly perfect at home. They made only 11 attack errors the entire match and had a combined .453 hitting percentage over the first two sets.

N.C. A&T was led by senior Brooke Stamnes who finished with eight kills. Sophomore Samara Brown had the best hitting day for the Aggies as she finished with five kills and one attack error on 12 attempts which resulted in a .333 hitting percentage. But the Aggies had a difficult time earning side out opportunities as the Rattlers ran several long rallies throughout the match.

A 6-0 run helped the Rattlers claim the first set while a 10-2 run in the second set helped the Rattlers claim a 13-5 lead they never relented. The Aggies fought to a 10-10 tie in the third set before the Rattlers ran off four straight points. An Aleena McDaneil kill and an attack error by the Rattlers helped the Aggies to move within two, 14-12. But once again the Rattlers scored five straight points off the serve of Ginna Lopez to take a 19-12 lead. Three Aggie attack errors aided the run as the Aggies never cut the deficit under five the rest of the set as the Rattlers closed out the match.