A&T vs. UConn
When: Saturday, Dec. 4, 7 p.m.
Facility: Power Gym (Boston, Mass.)

A&T Team Leaders:
Kills: Niaya Sawtelle (3.34 per set)
Digs: Andrea Laboy-Rivera (3.88 per set)
Assists: Edie Brewer (5.59 per set)
Blocks: Shaylynn Hall (1.19 per set)
Hitting Percentage: Shaylynn Hall (.347) 

A&T Big South Leaders (Top-10)  
Kills: Niaya Sawtelle (3.34 per set) – 3rd
Digs: Andrea Laboy-Rivera (3.88 per set) – 8th
Assists: Edie Brewer (5.59 per set) – 5th
Blocks: Shaylynn Hall (1.19 per set) – 1st; Mallory Porcher (1.03 per set) – 3rd
Hitting Percentage: Shaylynn Hall (.347) – 2nd

A&T Nationally Leaders (Top-50) 
Blocks: Shaylynn Hall (137) – 23rd

NORTH CAROLINA A&T (20-10, 11-5 BIG SOUTH): The Aggies are heading to the postseason for the third consecutive season. A&T received its first-ever postseason bid to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC0 in 2019, followed by the first-ever trip to the NCAA in the spring of 2021.  

However, this season the Aggies will be playing with heavy hearts after the passing of beloved teammate Fatimah Shabazz.

A&T went 1-1 at the Big South tournament. The Aggies defeated USC Upstate in the quarters, 3-1, before losing to top seed High Point University, 3-0, in the semis. Edie Brewer (West Chester, Ohio) earned all-tournament honors.     

The Aggies lead the Big South with 2.35 blocks per set overall, with USC Upstate in second place with 2.12 blocks per set.  

Head coach Hal Clifton eclipsed his 100th career win against Hampton on Oct. 7. Clifton is 75-53 (.586) since 2017. Against conference competition, he is 45-13 (.776). For the fifth straight season, the Aggies will finish better than .500. 

The victory over the Spartans in the Big South tournament gave Clifton his first 20-plus win season in his coaching career and the first at N.C. A&T since 2005 when the Aggies went 22-18 overall and 9-1 in the MEAC.

 CONNECTICUT HUSKIES (21-10, 13-5 BIG EAST): UConn won seven of its final nine regular-season matches but fell to Marquette 3-0 in the Big East semifinals.

 Caylee Parker leads the Huskies in kills per set (3.44), and McKayla Wuensch is the team's leader in assists per set (9.53). 

Anna Petrova leads the team in digs per set (4.50), and Kennadie Jake-Turner leads with 1.05 blocks per set.

 Ellen Herman-Kimball is in her third season as the head coach at UConn and has a 36-33 career record. Herman-Kimball is coaching in her first postseason match as UConn's head coach. UConn's last postseason was in 1994.  

THE SERIES: This will be the first matchup against Connecticut. A&T has only played three Big East opponents with the last time against Providence, a 3-1 loss, in 2007 in Durham, N.C. The only Big East win was in 2005, 3-0, against Providence in Boiling Springs, N.C.

SEASON NOTES: 

•  Shaylynn Hall's 111 block assists place her second on the school's single-season list. She needs 27 block assists to set the school record.  
• Mallory Porcher has 92 block assists this season and needs three more to move into fourth place on the single-season list.
• Naiya Sawtelle has 384 kills this season and needs 17 to move into fifth place. 
• Shaylynn Hall's .347 hitting percentage is the second-best in a single season behind Michelle Spottiswood's .379 hitting percentage in 1995.

 CAREER NOTES: 

• Edie Brewer needs four kills to move into fourth place past Darlene Mitchell's (2003-07) 945. In addition, Brewer ranks fifth all-time in block assists with 214.
• Brewer's 173 service aces put her 13 behind Brenden Chatman (2004-07) for second place. 
• Brewer is one of four players in A&T history with 1,000 digs.
• Addy Warfield has 1,159 assists and needs 135 to move into seventh place past Chelsea Fox (2011-13).
• Shaylynn Hall has 253 block assists to rank third in school history and has 54 solo blocks to rank sixth.
• Andrea Laboy-Rivera is 10th all-time with 82 service aces and needs two to move into eighth place in front of Samara Brown (2014-17). Laboy-Rivera has 1,501 digs and needs 76 to set the school record, held by Ashley Johnson (2012-15) with 1,576. 
• Fatimah Shabazz has 169 block assists to rank eighth in school history.
• Mallory Porcher has 148 block assists to tie 10th place and needs four to move past Te'Borah Hawkins (2012-16) 151.

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