NORFOLK, Va. – The women on the North Carolina A&T volleyball team made history on Saturday. They will be the first group of Aggie volleyball players to play in an NCAA tournament.
Their historic accomplishment cemented forever by an impressive four-set (19-25, 25-21, 25-17, 25-9) win over Coppin State in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) championship final at Norfolk State University's Echols Hall.
During the final season for the Aggies in the MEAC, they claimed their first-ever MEAC tournament title after five previous tries.
The Aggies will go into the NCAA tournament on an 11-match winning streak as they improved to 11-1 on the season. The NCAA selection show is Sunday at 4 p.m. on ESPNU. The NCAA will hold the tournament in Omaha, Neb., April 14-24.
Senior setter Edie Brewer, the reigning two-time MEAC player of the year, showed why she is one of the conference's greatest players of all time. In two tournament matches, she posted 58 assists, 23 kills and 26 digs to earn outstanding performer honors.
On Saturday, she had eight kills, nine digs and 28 assists. Junior right side hitter Fatimah Shabazz recorded a match-high 14 kills with a .263 hitting percentage and added four blocks to earn all-tournament honors.
"I'm so proud of my teammates present and past," said Brewer, who earned a spot on the MEAC's 50th Anniversary Team in 2021. "We believed in ourselves and knew that we were going to win the final one. I'm just on cloud nine."
Junior middle blocker Shaylynn Hall recorded seven kills with a .500 hitting percentage with six blocks and joined Brewer and Shabazz on the all-tournament team. Sophomore Addy Warfield contributed with a double-double of 15 assists and 12 digs.
Senior outside hitter Courteney Pitt recorded eight kills and four digs with a .263 hitting percentage. Amile Rupertova came off the bench to record five kills, three service aces, four digs and two blocks.
"The work they have put in during practice and the way they push each other is remarkable," said A&T coach Hal Clifton, the most outstanding coach of the MEAC tournament. "To have it pay off for them is amazing. I'm so happy for these young ladies. They earned it."
It took the Aggies a while to put away any concerns about fatigue after their three-hour back-and-forth with Delaware State in the MEAC tournament semifinal on Friday. The Aggies had to score 124 total points over five sets to defeat the Hornets.
Then they came out and dropped the first set to the Eagles (11-5), the No. 1 seed from the MEAC northern division, thanks to a 9-0 Coppin run to end the set at 25-19.
But over time, the Aggies alleviated those concerns. They became more efficient and impressive throughout the match until the fourth set, where they left little doubt about who will sit atop the MEAC mountain in 2021.
"Last night was a marathon match but tonight's match was history-making," said Clifton, who is 33-7 against MEAC competition in his last 40 matches coached. "I'm so proud of how quickly our team responded after the first set loss. We gathered ourselves, made a few small adjustments, and the team took it from there. It's a testament to how well the team works together."
The fourth and determining set started with A&T scoring the first five points to take a 5-0 lead. The lead ballooned to 12-1. When Rupertova slammed down a cross-court kill, the Aggies took a comfortable 20-5 lead as the anticipation of a historic title grew stronger.
Minutes later, Paola Caten's attack error confirmed it. The Aggies had the 25-9 set win and another championship for the athletics tournament. The Aggies now have a 4x400-meter relay indoor NCAA national championship, a MEAC bowling championship, women's basketball championship and a MEAC volleyball championship; all won this spring.
"The support of one another and the encouragement to each other makes this team so special," said Clifton. "I was lucky enough to be a part of it. And I'm very grateful to be a part of this family."
