DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (October 13, 2017) – Three North Carolina A&T volleyball players netted double-figure kills and a pair recorded double-doubles in a five-set (21-25, 26-24, 25-23, 16-25, 12-15) loss at Bethune-Cookman Friday night at Moore Gymnasium on the campus of Bethune-Cookman University.

Senior Samara Brown recorded season-highs in kills (15) and attack attempts (45) while notching her fifth double-double by adding 10 digs. Freshman Edie Brewer tallied 25 assists with 10 digs for her fifth double-double while attempting a season-high 26 attacks. Freshman Courteney Pitt tied a team-high with 15 kills and senior Alyssa Pitt had 14 kills also a season-best. Senior Jasmine Lindor tied a career-high with seven digs and for the third time this season junior Megan Wiggins garnered 15 assists.

N.C. A&T appeared to take control of the match in the third set. Several early errors in the third by the Wildcats along with kills by Alyssa Pitt and Brown catapulted N.C. A&T to an 11-5 lead. But BCU scored eight of the next 11 points to cut into the A&T lead, 14-13. The Aggies halted the Wildcats momentum by going on a 5-1 run highlighted by two kills from Brown to jump ahead 19-14.

Bethune-Cookman (7-8, 4-0 MEAC) battled back to make it 24-23 on a Brown attack error, leading to a N.C. A&T timeout. After the timeout, Alyssa Pit came through in the clutch and sunk BCU with a kill to put the Aggies one set away from taking over sole possession of first place in the MEAC Southern Division. But the Aggies (11-10, 3-1 MEAC) struggled in the fourth, committing seven errors in a setback that forced a fifth set.

Aided by three Aggie errors, BCU used a 6-0 run midway through the fifth to take a 10-4 lead over N.C. A&T. A Courteney Pitt kill ended the Wildcat run, but the Wildcats were strong at the net, using two kills and block assists from Faith Landreneaux and Miranda White to force match and set point at 14-9. But a kill from Brown and three consecutive attack errors from the Wildcats kept the Aggies' hopes alive as they cut the lead to 14-12. White ended things for the Wildcats with a kill to put the Wildcats a match ahead of the Aggies in the MEAC Southern Division standings.

“I guess Friday the 13th got to us tonight,” said N.C. A&T coach Hal Clifton. “It was a battle throughout the night, and I am proud of how we fought back so hard in the second set. We could have folded right then but we focused our energy and made a nice comeback. We played a solid third set. We were the aggressors. We are continuing to grow both mentally and physically. We still need to figure a couple things out, but the progress is there. If we can understand that everything matters and attention to detail can separate you from being okay or being great.”

Bethune-Cookman issued the first blow, taking the first set and were well on their way to taking the second. N.C. A&T trailed 20-14, but kills from Alyssa Pitt and Samara Brown brought that lead down to four. Bethune-Cookman regained control of the second set by taking a 23-18 lead. Courteney Pitt produced back-to-back kills to cut the lead to three. BCU garnered set point on an Aggies attack error. But Alyssa Pitt slammed down a kill on an assist from her sister Courteney, the Wildcats committed an attack error and Courteney Pitt produced back-to-back service aces to tie the set at 24. The final two points went to N.C. A&T on kills by Brown and Brewer.

Up next for N.C. A&T is a meeting with the Florida A&M Rattlers, Sunday at 2 p.m., in the Al Lawson Center.