GREENSBORO (September 10, 2016) – North Carolina A&T went 0-2 on Saturday during the last day of the Spartan-Aggie Invitational. In the morning, they lost in three sets to UNC Greensboro (25-14, 25-21, 25-16) at UNCG's Fleming Gymnasium. Their evening match was a thrilling five-set loss to Radford (25-18, 25-17, 22-25, 18-25, 15-10) at Moore Gymnasium. The Aggies finish the weekend 1-2 and 2-7 on the season.

Three Aggies had double-figure kills against Radford including junior Samara Brown's 13. Junior Alyssa Pitt and fifth-year middle hitter Te'Borah Hawkins-Hollingsworth had 11 kills apiece. Hawkins-Hollingsworth had only one attack error in 15 attempts for a .667 hitting percentage. Pitt wasn't bad either with a .333 hitting percentage.

"I thought we played one of our best matches of the season against a very formidable opponent in the Big South," said head coach Hal Clifton.  "We pushed their limits and almost got the victory.  Even being down two sets, our team stayed focused and never back down.  I'm very proud of their efforts and look forward to our continued growth."

N.C.  A&T was on the verge of losing six straight sets on Saturday before an inspiring third and fourth set against the Highlanders prevented that occurrence.  Hawkins-Hollingsworth crushed six kills with no attack errors in the third.  The teams found themselves tied 10 times throughout the set. The Aggies finally pulled away with a 7-2 run highlighted by three Hawkins-Hollingsworth kills that gave the Aggies a 24-19 win. The Highlanders would answer with three straight points, but an attack error by Stephanie Neast gave the Aggies the set win.

In the match-tying Set 4, the Aggies opened the set by trailing 4-0 before claiming the lead for good with a Pitt kill that gave N.C. A&T 15-14 lead. Brown helped the Aggies cruise to the set victory with four kills, four digs and two blocks from Brown.

The Aggies stayed competitive throughout the fifth set, putting up a five-point run to take the lead, 6-4.  However, three straight attack errors sparked a 5-0 Highlander run that the Aggies never recovered from during the match-clinching set.

In the earlier match, N.C. A&T struggled to get their momentum going in the first set, but things improved throughout the match.  In Set 2, a kill from junior Jasmine Lindor gave the Aggies a 13-12 lead, but the Spartans battled back after a timeout to pick up three straight points.  The Aggies pulled within two at 21-19, but ultimately could not catch up.

Overall, the Aggies finished the match hitting .087 with 26 kills and 17 errors on 103 attempts compared to the Spartans .268.  Brown led the team with 15 kills and seven errors on 43 attempts to reach a .186 hitting percentage.  Freshman Leila Haynesworth came up with four kills and a .118 hitting percentage.

The Aggies will be on the road to take on Gardner-Webb (6-3) Wednesday, Sept. 14 at 6 p.m., at Paul Porter Arena in Boiling Springs, N.C.