CHARLESTON, S.C. – For the second consecutive match, North Carolina A&T won in straight sets.
The opponent this time was Charleston Southern University as the Aggies won 25-18, 17 and 20 at CSU Fieldhouse Saturday to improve to 13-7 overall and 5-3 in the Big South Conference.
"It was a very solid road win today," A&T coach Hal Clifton said. "I thought our players did a really nice job staying with the game plan.
We pushed the tempo, and we were ready defensively. Our setters did a nice job getting our hitters in positions where they could be successful. Our ball control was very good today, which allowed our offense to flow."
Naiya Sawtelle (6-0, FR, outside hitter, Stuart, Fla.) led the Aggies with 11 kills and recorded all six Aggie service aces. She also added three blocks, including one solo, four digs and recorded a .429 hitting percentage. Fatimah Shabazz (6-0, SR, right side, Cincinnati, Ohio) recorded 10 kills and five blocks with a .400 hitting percentage.
The last Aggie to record six service aces was Andrea Laboy-Rivera (5-5, SR, Libero, Coamo, Puerto Rico) on Nov. 11, 2019, against Bethune-Cookman.
With set No. 1 tied at 12, the Aggies scored three straight points aided by two ball handling errors by the Buccaneers. Then, Sawtelle sparked another 3-0 run with a kill to give the Aggies a 19-14 lead. The Bucs (6-12, 2-6 Big South) did get to within three at 21-18 on an Indigo Young kill and a service error by Laboy-Rivera. But the Aggies closed the set with four straight points thanks in part to three CSU attack errors.
A 6-0 A&T run in the second set did the trick. Three of Sawtelle's six service aces came during the spurt. Hannah Howell (6-0, FR, outside hitter, St. Louis Park, Minn.) had two kills during the run as the Aggies took a 14-6 lead. The closest the Bucs got the rest of the set was six. An Addy Warfield (5-9, JR, setter, Winter Springs, Fla.) gave the Aggies a 2-0 match lead.
A&T jumped out to a 13- 3 lead in the third. However, the Bucs' 4-0 spurt cut A&T's lead to 17-13. The Bucs got to within three at 20-17 on Peyton Thompson kill. But the Aggies were able to keep CSU at a distance. A kill by Shabazz followed by a block assist from Shabazz and Shaylynn Hall (6-1, SR, middle blocker, Raleigh, N.C.) gave the Aggies a 24-19 lead. A Thompson attack error clinched the win for A&T, who is now 5-3 on the road this season.
Howell added seven kills, and Edie Brewer (6-0, GR, setter, West Chester, Ohio) led the team with 18 assists to go along with five kills, eight digs and a .280 hitting percentage. Warfield recorded 14 assists.
Malloy Porcher (6-0, JR, middle blocker, Orlando, Fla.) recorded a match-high six blocks, including one solo.
Thompson led CSU with a match-high 16 kills. Emma Minnick led the Bucs with a match-high 29 assists, and Thompson and Ashleigh Holweger recorded eight digs.
