SOUTH DAYTONA, Fla. (November 4, 2016) – North Carolina A&T endured a major setback in their quest to win the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's southern division volleyball title with a four-set loss (22-25, 25-14,25-20, 25-22) to Bethune-Cookman Friday night at Warner Christian Gymnasium. The loss puts the Aggies two-and-half matches behind first-place Florida A&M (14-11, 8-0 MEAC) as the Aggies venture to Tallahassee for a 2 p.m., matchup against the FAMU Rattlers on Sunday. The Aggies loss gives the Rattlers the southern division regular-season title. 

The Aggies are now 9-12 overall and 6-2 in MEAC play, a half-match ahead of the B-CU Wildcats (8-20, 6-3 MEAC) for second place.  

Junior Samara Brown notched her fifth double-double of the season, producing 19 kills and 13 kills, while adding four total blocks. Brown is averaging 4.09 kills and hitting .225 over her past 22 sets played. Junior Alyssa Pitt had 13 kills and a .267 hitting percentage with two block assists.  Junior Jasmine Lindor added five block assists to her team-leading total.

Each set brought its own challenges for both teams. The Wildcats hung around in Set 1, but a 5-1 run by the Aggies late gave them a 20-16 lead. B-CU came within one point, 21-20, on a kill by Lauren Turner. But two kills by freshman Christa Wilson and a kill by Brown helped the Aggies take a 24-21 lead. Alana Handy brought the Wildcats to within two before a kill from freshman Leila Haynesworth ended the set. 

The Wildcats had only one attack error to take the second set. They ended the third set on a 3-0 run to win 25-20 and take a 2-1 lead over the Aggies.

The fourth set gave the Aggies a chance to even the match. They clawed back from a 13-7 deficit. Sparked by block assists from Lindor and Wilson and three kills from Brown, the Aggies got to within one, 14-13. The Wildcats built their lead back up to four, 21-17, before the Aggies got to within two at 23-21 on service error. Two kills by B-CU's Phylecia Armstrong helped the Wildcats end the set and match, 25-22.

Ten attack errors by the Aggies aided Bethune-Cookman. Handy led the Wildcats with 14 kills. She got help from Armstrong and Alondra Baustista who had 13 kills apiece.