ORANGEBURG, S.C. – What is there not to like about North Carolina A&T's weekend in volleyball? The Aggies followed up a win over Savannah State on Friday with a four-set win (25-17, 25-18, 23-25, 25-18) over S.C. State Sunday afternoon at Dukes Gymnasium.
In the process, the Aggies all but solidified their third straight appearance in the MEAC tournament by improving to 7-11 overall and 5-3 in the MEAC. N.C. A&T head coach Hal Clifton also has his three seniors playing well. Senior Brooke Stamnes finished Sunday with 18 kills, 10 digs and a .350 hitting percentage. In her last three matches, all wins, Stamnes is averaging 4.55 kills and 3.0 digs per set, and she has posted a .315 hitting percentage over those three matches. She also had 10 digs, which gives her 27 double-doubles for her career.
Senior Ashley Johnson added 16 digs and senior Aleena McDaniel had six kills, only one attack error and a .357 hitting percentage. Junior setter Liz Martino who had 40 assists against the Bulldogs (3-18, 3-6 MEAC), is finding her rhythm in running the Aggies offense
Plus, the sophomores have been efficient defensively at the net. Alyssa Pitt and Jasmin Lindor combined for 11 block assist on Sunday. Pitt also added nine kills on a .412 hitting percentage. Another sophomore, Samara Brown, finished with a season-high 15 kills and seven digs.
“This was huge for us,” said Clifton. “We needed to get this win to secure a bid for the MEAC's, and to have momentum going into this week.”
The Aggies won the first behind the strength of Brown. The Aggies set her 10 times and she responded by slamming down seven kills in the first. The second set saw Lindor and Pitt dominate at the net. Lindor came away with four block assist and Pitt added two to give the Aggies a 2-0 lead. N.C. A&T had a chance for a sweep, tying the match at 23 on a Bulldog attack error. A kill by Brianna Dafney and an attack error from the Aggies kept SCSU in the match.
N.C. A&T stayed away from mistakes in the fourth set, committing only two attack errors. Stamnes did not commit one as she closed out the match with four kills in the fourth. Stamnes' kill gave the Aggies a 21-16 lead. Dafney tried to keep SCSU in the set with a kill to close to within 22-18, but the Aggies scored three straight to secure the win.
“We won the serving and passing game,” said Clifton. “We played confident, limited our errors and spread our offense. Liz did a nice job of getting hitters in the right position to score and our attackers finished.”
Before the 2015 MEAC Volleyball Championship Tournament Nov. 20-22 in Princess Anne, Md., the Aggies close out the regular season at home with the two top teams in the MEAC southern division in Bethune-Cookman on Friday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m., and Florida A&M on Sunday, Nov. 8 at 3 p.m.
