GREENSBORO –North Carolina A&T used an impenetrable presence at the net and the steady play of sophomore Alyssa Pitt to persevere through a slow start before senior Brooke Stamnes heated up. The two elements together were too much for Savannah State to overcome as the Aggies powered their way to a three-set win Friday night at Moore Gymnasium, 25-18, 17, 20.
The Tigers (0-20, 0-3 MEAC) lost their 23rd straight match dating back to last season, while the Aggies (3-7, 1-1 MEAC) were able to capture their first conference win of the season. Stamnes led the way with 12 kills on a .286 hitting percentage. N.C. A&T's sophomores were tremendously effective against the Tigers as well. Samara Brown finished with eight kills, seven digs and five blocks while Pitt finished with seven kills, two blocks and a .500 hitting percentage. Marteen Hill did not make an error in six attack attempts as she finished with four kills, six blocks and a .667 hitting percentage.
“We worked a lot this week on identifying attackers and following balls into zones,” said N.C. A&T head coach Hal Clifton about his team's play at the net. “Alyssa Pitt does a great job for us. I don't think we've had someone over a block per set in a really long time. She does a good of steadying the block and our middles are closing really well. Tonight they read every sequence correctly and it led to a ton of blocks at the net.”
Despite the Aggies strong play at the net, the Tigers were still able to pull even at 14 in the first set. An Aleena McDaniel kill gave the Aggies the lead back, and it also gave the Aggies the lead for good in the first set. After Caitlynn Masoe's kill moved the Tigers to within two at 18-16, the Aggies took command of the first set which was aided by a Briana Littlejohn service error, a Masoe ballhandling error and two consecutive attack errors. At the end of SSU's series of mistakes, the Aggies held a 22-16 lead. The Aggies closed out the first set on a McDaniel kill.
Despite the first-set win, Stamnes, the Aggies top hitter, had just one kill on six attempts. She rectified that over the next two sets. In her last 19 attempts of the match, she had only one attacker error and finished with an impressive 11 kills over the final two sets. Coupled with a strong defensive showing in the back row led by senior Ashley Johnson's 14 digs, the Aggies were able to end the second set on a 7-1 run before closing out the match with a kill apiece from Pitt and Stamnes.
“Brook's always somebody we want to get the ball too,” said Clifton, who won his ninth straight match over SSU. “She is a senior and she has proven herself time and time again. A lot of teams key on Brooke. They're going to put blocks up against her. It was just a matter of us getting in the right position and getting the right swings. Once we opened it up for her, she just did her thing.”
The Aggies return to Moore Gym Sunday afternoon at 2 to face MEAC foe S.C. State. “You've got to defend your home court and our girls feel very confident,” said Clifton. “South Carolina State will give us a handful. But knowing we can win in the fashion we won tonight is really uplifting for our ladies.”
