HIGH POINT – Something happened to North Carolina A&T volleyball Friday night that rarely happens. The Aggies lost in straight sets. High Point University posted a .307 hitting percentage in defeating the Aggies, 25-15, 22 and 16 at the Millis Center. 

Friday marked the Aggies first-ever three-set loss in the Big South Conference as they dropped to 17-9 overall and 9-5 in the Big South. It was just the Aggies third three-set loss in their past 40 matches and their first since losing to Wake Forest 3-0 on Sept. 14. 

HPU remains first in the conference at 21-6 overall and 13-1 in league play.

"A couple of things came into play," said A&T coach Hal Clifton. "Campbell loses, and High Point is back in first place, and they get excited. 

They're going to take advantage of that opportunity that was presented to them. We are at their place. 

"The scores don't look good, but I thought we played well. We had some things that we have to fix, but we just didn't play at a high level long enough against a really good opponent. But I'm not disappointed in how we played overall."

Three of the Aggies four previous Big South losses were in five sets, and they had a four-set loss to HPU at Moore Gymnasium. 

Despite the rare three-set loss, Naiya Sawtelle (6-0, FR, outside hitter, Stuart, Fla.) still played well. She had 15 kills and seven digs. Edie Brewer (6-0, GR, setter, West Chester, Ohio) added another double-double to her career total with 13 digs and 13 assists. 

"High Point showed up, and they did an amazing job," Brewer said. "We fought our hardest, but we came up short this time. We struggled with our blocking scheme tonight, but we are not worried. It's something that we'll stay in the gym and fix and come back bigger and stronger." 

Fatimah Shabazz (6-0, SR, right side, Cincinnati, Ohio) added seven kills, and Addy Warfield (5-9, JR, setter, Springs, Fla.) added 13 assists and five digs.

HPU started the match with a 6-2 lead. But a pair of 3-0 runs helped the Aggies take the lead at 10-9 as Brewer had a total of three kills between both runs. After HPU scored two in a row, the Aggies outscored the Panthers 3-1 over the next four points to take a 13-12 lead as Sawtelle had two kills in the process. But HPU went 12-1 run to put the first set away. 

The Aggies started the second set with a 10-6 lead, but HPU outscored A&T 8-3 over the next 11 points to tie set at 14. The teams went back-and-forth from there until a 5-1 Panthers spurt gave HPU a 20-17 lead. HPU never trialed from there as an Aggies attack error gave HPU set point at 24-21. 

Maya Johnson (6-0, FR, middle blocker, Austin, Texas) tried to keep the Aggies in it with a solo block. But a Sydney Palazzolo kill gave HPU a two-match lead. 

A&T started the final stanza with a 5-3 lead. An eventual 7-2 spurt by the Panthers gave HPU a 17-12 lead. After a Macenzie Richards (6-0, SR, right side, Pickerington, Ohio) kill and a block by Richards and Johnson cut the lead to 17-14, the Panthers put together an 8-2 run to win the set and match. 

Dylan Maberry led High Point with a match-high 16 kills.