DAVIDSON – North Carolina A&T started fast and finished strong but ran into trouble during the middle sets in a four-set loss (17-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-22) to Davidson in non-conference volleyball action Tuesday at John M. Belk Arena.
In the match, senior Ashley Johnson made school history when she dug up a Mary Harriet Moore attack in the third set to become N.C. A&T's all-time leader in digs. It was Johnson's 13th dig of the match after coming into the contest needing 13 digs to break Lauren Walker's nine-year old record. Johnson finished with 19 digs in the match and now has 1,462 career digs.
Sophomore Alyssa Pitt led the Aggies offensively with a career-high 18 kills on a .394 hitting percentage. Senior Brooke Stamnes added 14 kills and 10 digs for her 25th career double-double. Aleena McDaniel had an excellent night with 10 kills, only one attack error and a season-high .409 hitting percentage. Junior Liz Martino also had a double-double with 41 assists and 14 digs.
N.C. A&T (4-10) baffled the Davidson offense in the first set with a tough defense that forced the Wildcats (8-11) into a -.054 hitting percentage. The trio hitters of Pitt, Stamnes and McDaniel dominated the first. Pitt posted four kills without an error on seven attacks, while Stamnes also had four kills in the set and McDaniel added three.
A McDaniel kill gave the Aggies an 18-15 lead in the first. Attack errors by N.C. A&T's Samara Brown and Stamnes helped the Wildcats move to within one. Then the Aggies took over. Another McDaniel kills sparked a 7-0 Aggies run that clinched set No. 1 for N.C. A&T. Davidson had five attack errors during the run.
Davidson took the second and third sets before the Aggies put together a tough challenge to take the match to a fifth and deciding set. The Aggies led 16-11 before the Wildcats pulled to within two, 16-14, on a Katharine Franz kill. McDaniel kept the Aggies in the lead at 18-16 on a kill, but the Wildcats ran off four straight points to take the lead, 20-18.
Freshman Tatyana Gibbs ended the run with just her fifth kill of the season and then followed that up with a block assist along with sophomore Jasmine Lindor to tie the set at 20. Two straight attack errors by the Aggies put Davidson ahead 22-20. Stamnes slowed the Aggies slide with a kill before the Wildcats scored two more points to give them match point at 24-21. Stamnes held off the Wildcats victory with a kill before Sabrina Shepherd ended things with a kill.
The Aggies return to action Tuesday, Oct. 20 when they travel to Elon to face the Elon Phoenix at 7 p.m.
