SAVANNAH, Ga. – Senior Brooke Stamnes moved closer to 1,000. Ashley Johnson got 1,500, and the Aggies picked up a key conference win Friday night with a three-set win (25-23, 19, 16) over Savannah State at Willcox-Wiley Gymnasium.
Stamnes now has 966 career kills after putting together her second straight strong match with 17 kills on a .341 hitting percentage. Stamnes only needs 34 kills to become just the second player in school history to reach 1,000 kills. In her last two matches, she has a combined 32 kills on a respectable .298 hitting percentage. She also added nine digs. Johnson had a few digs of her own Friday night – 19 – which gives 1,516 for her career. She is now the only player in school history to exceed 1,500 digs in a career.
But what really counts for N.C. A&T (6-11, 4-3 MEAC) was the win as the MEAC tournament approaches. The Aggies are firmly in third place in the MEAC southern division as it tries to earn one of the top four spots out of the south. The Tigers (0-29, 0-8 MEAC) lost to N.C. A&T for the 11th straight time.
They did give the Aggies challenge in the first set. Christian Lyle's service ace gave the Tigers a 20-17 lead. N.C. A&T moved to within one before the Tigers scored the next two to take a 22-19 lead as SSU attempted to take only its second set from the Aggies since joining the conference in 2011.
But two Tiger attack errors and a kill from sophomore Alyssa Pitt tied the set at 22. A block assist from Pitt and Jasmine Lindor to give the Aggies their first lead of the set. Caitlynn Masoe tied the set again with a kill before Stamnes took over. She powered down a kill to earn the side out for the Aggies. She then went back to serve and returned to the rotation to slam down another kill to clinch the set.
N.C. A&T got off to much better starts in the second and third sets to finish off the Tigers. Sophomore Samara Brown contributed with 12 kills and Lindor added seven kills on only eight attempts to earn a .750 hitting percentage.
The Aggies will further try to solidify their place in the MEAC tournament with a Sunday matchup against S.C. State in Orangeburg, S.C. The match starts at 2 p.m.
