BALTIMORE (September 21, 2018) –Sophomore Courteney Pitt is getting more and more opportunities to attack and she is taking advantage.

Pitt has had three straight career volleyball matches for the North Carolina A&T Aggies including the two she had on Friday during the first day of the Charm City Classic hosted by Morgan State and Coppin State.

The Aggies (4-7) opened the day with a 3-1 win over the Norfolk State Spartans (27-25, 21-25, 25-12, 25-22) at MSU's Hill Field House before dropping a 3-1 contest to the Morgan State Bears (25-18, 25-18, 18-25, 29-27) at Hill Field House.  

Pitt who had a career 18 kills in the Aggies last match against Gardner-Webb on Sept. 11 followed that with 20 kills in the Aggies win over NSU on Friday. She was incredible against the Spartans with 33 total attacks and only one attack error for a .576 hitting percentage.

She followed that performance with 24 kills against the Bears. Pitt's 24 kills are the most by an Aggie since Arlene Mitchell had 25 at Loyola on Sept. 9, 2006. In addition to having 44 total kills on Friday, Pitt also had a combined .385 hitting percentage and 12 digs.

Pitt opened the day with an eight-kills first set against the Spartans. Trailing the Spartans 24-23, it was the combination of junior Leila Haynesworth and Pitt that put the Aggies in the lead with back-to-back kills. An Aggies attack error tied the set at 25 before a Haynesworth kill and an NSU attack error gave the Aggies a one-set lead.

NSU took the second set before the Aggies were nearly perfect in the third. N.C .A&T posted a season-best .769 hitting percentage in the third set, as Haynesworth had four kills without an attack error and Pitt added three kills without an attack error.

The Aggies took control of the fourth set and thusly the match thanks to a 6-0 run that gave the Aggies an 18-12 lead. A kill by Pitt and block assists by from sophomore Edie Brewer and freshman Lily Walton and Walton and Pitt helped during the run. Haynesworth also had a service ace during the spurt.

Haynesworth moved the Aggies to match point on a kill that gave the Aggies a 24-16 lead. But the Spartans put together a 6-0 run of their own that included Pitt's only attack error of the night. NSU's excitement ended when a service error by Brenna Ankrum gave the Aggies the match and ended a six-match losing streak for N.C. A&T.

Brewer added 33 assists, six digs, four kills and two service aces. Haynesworth finished with 14 kills. The Aggies had a season-high .321 hitting percentage.

N.C. A&T got off to a slow start against the Bears. The Aggies had a combined .109 hitting percentage over the first two sets but got it together in the third. Pitt had an impressive nine kills in the third set including a kill that culminated a 5-0 run that gave the Aggies a 17-12 lead. The Bears responded with four straight points before another Pitt kill gave the Aggies an 18-16 advantage.

Walton added another kill before reigning MEAC player of the week Cristen Coryatt's kill made it 19-17. N.C. A&T took command of the set with a 5-0 run that included three Pitt kills. The set ended on a Pitt kill with an assist from freshman Andrea Laboy-Rivera.

N.C. A&T nearly forced a fifth set with a highly-competitive fourth set. Trailing 24-23, the Aggies avoided the loss with a Pitt kill and even took a 25-24 lead thanks to a solo block from Walton. The Aggies could not get the set win, however, as Coryatt dashed those hopes with a kill. The Bears took a 26-25 lead on a Pitt attack error but had their momentum stopped with a service error.

Coryatt returned with another kill to put the Bears ahead one before her attack error tied the set again. But the Bears finally ended the match thanks to an Aggies service ace and a kill from MSU's Zoe McBride.