TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (October 15, 2017) – Florida A&M swept N.C. A&T volleyball in straight sets (26-24, 25-22, 25-18) Sunday afternoon in the Al Lawson Center. Senior Samara Brown led the Aggies in kills for the eighth time this season, finishing with 12 on 29 attempts for a .241 attack percentage. Freshman Courteney Pitt had nine kills, while senior Jasmine Lindor added six kills and four blocks. Freshman Edie Brewer collected 21 assists, a team-high six digs, five kills and three blocks.

The Aggies (11-11, 3-2) played a strong opening set, hammering the Rattlers (7-10, 4-1) defense with 16 kills behind the duo of Brown and Courteney Pitt. Brown contributed six kills and Courteney Pitt came up with four, but 10 attacks errors set the Aggies back. Florida A&M earned their biggest lead of the set after three straight kills extended their advantage to 17-13. A pair of kills by Courteney Pitt and a ball handling error by the Rattlers cut the deficit to 17-16.  Attacks by Alyssa Pitt and Brown tied the set at 19, but the Rattlers responded with a kill and an attack error taking a 21-19 advantage.

N.C. A&T continued to fight and tied the set at 21 on a kill by Brown and an error by FAMU. The Rattlers reclaimed the lead briefly, but an attack by Lindor and a service ace by Alyssa Pitt forced FAMU into a timeout as they faced a 23-22 deficit. Just a couple of points shy of a set victory, the Aggies committed a host of errors. Four errors were made by the Aggies with the lead and the Rattlers rallied to win Set 1.

Five early errors in the second set by Florida A&M gave the Aggies a positive start with a 7-1 lead. Florida A&M then went on an 11-3 to take their first lead at 12-10. Both teams kept things close until three consecutive kills by Brewer, Courteney Pitt and Brown allowed A&T to take a 20-17 advantage.

The Rattlers called a timeout to regroup from the spurt by the Aggies. Following a kill by Brown giving A&T a 21-19 lead, FAMU went on a 3-0 run to lead 22-21. The Aggies called a timeout and Courteney Pitt connected on her third kill of the set to tie the set, but two straight kills and a service ace doomed the Aggies.

N.C. A&T's attack produced five kills within the first six Aggie points of the third set. Alyssa Pitt's second kill over that stretch tied the set at 6. The Rattlers, however, unsuspectedly grabbed the momentum from the Aggies. Florida A&M scored 11 consecutive points on the Aggies springing to a 17-6 advantage. The FAMU run was ended on a kill by Brown. The Aggies used a 4-0 run on kills by Lindor, sophomore Camille Uadiale and Courteney Pitt with a FAMU attack error, cutting the score to 22-13.

Despite errors over the final seven points by Florida A&M, they pulled together late for the set and the match. Florida A&M's Candelaria Herrera finished with a match-high 13 kills while three other Rattlers recorded 10 digs each in Maria Yvette Garcia, Nicole Abreu and Valentina Carracso.

“Today's loss was disappointing considering we played two really good sets at the start,” said N.C. A&T coach Hal Clifton. “It was hard to gain momentum in the third set after losing the first two sets so close. It is tough to win on the road, but I feel like we came away with some important knowledge, and we are competing at a high level. Florida A&M has dominated the south for so long, and though we lost we played them tough.”

The Aggies return home next weekend to host rival North Carolina Central at Moore Gymnasium on Friday, October 27 at 6 p.m. In their first meeting on Sept. 28, the Aggies pulled out a win in five-sets led by Samara Brown's 14 kills and 10 digs.