ELON – North Carolina A&T completed its non-conference schedule Tuesday with a three-set loss (25-8, 20, 13) to Elon at Alumni Gym.
Sophomore Samara Brown led the Aggies with seven kills, 11 assists and two total blocks. N.C. A&T's all-time leader in digs, senior Ashley Johnson, added 19 more digs to her career total putting her 19 digs shy of 1,500 for her career. The Aggies dropped to 4-11 on the season.
Elon's Sydney Busa had a double-double for the Phoenix (5-17) with 11 kills and 12 digs. Busa's Phoenix had an excellent first set where they posted a .556 hitting percentage. N.C. A&T had only five kills in the first.
The Aggies played better in the second set where they fought to a 15-15 score before the Phoenix ran off three straight points to force the Aggies to call timeout. The break in action seemed to work for the Aggies as sophomore Marteen Hill and senior Aleena McDaniel scored on back-to-back kills. Both were assisted by Brown as the Aggies closed to within one at 18-17. Kayla Agae and Busa stretched the lead back to three with two consecutive kills. That was followed by an attack error from Aggies senior Brooke Stamnes to give the Phoenix a 21-17 advantage.
Busa's attack error broke the run, but a kill by Kam Terry and a N.C. A&T service error gave Elon a 23-18 lead. The Phoenix ended the set with an Ally Karle kill. Elon ended the match by posting a .295 hitting percentage in the third set.
N.C. A&T will turn its focus to conference play and qualifying for the MEAC tournament starting Friday night when the Aggies invite arch-rival N.C. Central to Moore Gymnasium for a 7 p.m., matchup.
