NORFOLK, Va. (October 12, 2016) – North Carolina A&T had some unfortunate mishaps late in what turned out to be a five-set thriller Wednesday night at Gill Gymnasium. Norfolk State held off the Aggies 25-23, 19-25, 25-21, 19-25, 17-15. 

Junior outside hitter Samara Brown and senior setter Liz Martino had their second double-doubles in a week with Brown producing 16 kills and 11 digs while Martino had 16 assists and 11 digs.  Freshman Christa Wilson had her first career double-double after putting down 12 kills and 13 digs. Jasmine Lindor had another huge game at the net with eight total blocks all off of block assists. She also had eight kills, one attack error and an impressive .467 hitting percentage. Sophomore Keniah Rivera Santiago added 17 digs.

“We can learn a lot from what we did which will continue to make us a better team,” said N.C. A&T coach Hal Clifton.  “I like our physical presence at the net, blocking 13 times. We struggled a bit in serve receiving, though. It's hard to play on the road, and we almost pulled it off. We kept fighting and that is something we have to do for every point.”

The Aggies (6-11) did fight in Set 5 even though they trailed 13-10. But Brown and Lindor put together two block assists moments and Brown smacked down a kill to tie the set at 13. After NSU (4-13) regained the lead, Wilson tied the set at 15 with a kill. A kill from Dominique Parker and service ace from Irizarry ended the match in a dramatic fashion. 

“This was a very disappointing loss today,” said Clifton.  “We had great moments, but we also had some not so great moments. It just happened to be at a critical time in the match.”

When N.C. A&T's offense was effective; the Aggies were able to get on a roll. Set 4 was one of those occasions. The Aggies, who trailed 2-1 going into the fourth set, hit .280 in the fourth set with only four attack errors. The Aggies trailed 14-13 in the fourth set before two kills from Brown, another kill from junior Alyssa Pitt and a ball handling error from NSU put the Aggies ahead 17-14. Another Aggies 4-0 run in the set gave N.C. A&T 24-17 after a block assist by Leila Haynesworth and Lindor. A service error by Alex Irizarry gave the Aggies the set, tying the match at 2 sets apiece going into the exciting fifth set.

The Aggies hit .200 in the second set after dropping the first with .143 hitting percentage. With Set 2 tied 15-15, the Aggies picked up six straight points to lead 21-15 before the Spartans tried to launch a comeback with a 4-0 run to bring the Spartans to within two at 21-19. Lindor closed out the set for her team, however, picking up two consecutive kills.

N.C. A&T has a break before resuming conference competition in Durham against rival North Carolina Central on Oct. 21 at 7 p.m.  The Eagles (3-11, 2-2 MEAC) have lost each of their last three matches 3-0.