Aggies Volleyball Returns to Action After Short Layoff

A&T returns a plethora of experience and talent entering the 2021 fall season.

Kevin L. Dorsey

Shaylynn Hall led the MEAC in blocks per set (1.21) last spring.

Women's Volleyball | 8/25/2021 1:29:00 PM

EAST GREENSBORO – For the first time in 37 years of volleyball at North Carolina A&T, the Aggies won't be playing in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC).

Instead, A&T will be a Big South Conference member in all sports except bowling.

"We're super excited for the challenge," head coach Hal Clifton said on joining the Big South Conference. "We've played a lot of schools over the past few years in a non-conference setting. We're not completely unfamiliar with them. They aren't completely unfamiliar with us because of proximity and location within our travel distances. We look forward to the challenge. We know that the Big South is competitive from top to bottom. We are very excited to move into that competitive environment and show what A&T volleyball can do."

Before leaving the MEAC, the Aggies won the southern division title two consecutive seasons, and they won the school's first volleyball conference tournament title in the spring of 2021.

A&T advanced out of the first round against No. 24 Rice because of a COVID-19 issue with the Rice program. In the second round in Omaha, Neb, the Aggies fell to No. 9 Penn State 3-0.

This season, the Aggies look to continue their success in the new conference.

"We are very excited," said Courteney Pitt (6-foot-1, graduate, outside hitter, Farmville, N.C.). "It's something new for us, but something where we can show who we are and what we are about."

Big South head coaches picked A&T to finish sixth in the conference's preseason poll. Only six teams received a bid to the Big South tournament.

"Being picked sixth is about where I figured we would be," Clifton said. "Schools know us, and we know them. They've done their research. I feel like that's their assessment of us starting in a new conference. I think we're prepared to do well and go in there and compete and change some people's minds on our level of play."

With COVID-19 pushing back the season from the fall to the spring, the NCAA gave all student-athletes the ability to return for an extra season. Pitt decided she would take advantage of the additional year after the spring season ended. "I love being here," Pitt said. "I love the team, the coaches and volleyball in general, so it was easy for me to take that opportunity. It's kind of a no-brainer, not even the volleyball aspect of it, but to get more schooling."

Pitt ranks second all-time in school history with 1,064 career kills. She recorded her 1,000th career kill during the spring of 2021 and was named first-team All-MEAC for the third consecutive year.

Edie Brewer (6-0, GR, setter/right side, West Chester, Ohio) made the same decision Pitt made.

Brewer, the reigning two-time MEAC player of the year and the A&T Athletics department's female athlete of the year, is back.

Over the past two seasons, the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) named Brewer honorable mention All-South Region. Last season, AVCA named her honorable mention nationwide.

She ranks in the school's top-10 in five different statistical categories in her career. Brewer is second in assists (2,171), fifth in service aces (135), sixth in block assists (155), eighth in digs (783) and 10th in kills (709). Brewer has nine career triple-doubles, including eight during the 2019 season, which ranked second in the nation.

Brewer was the only Aggie named on the eight-member Big South preseason team. She excels in academics as well, earning CoSIDA District 3 academic honors.

"We're excited for Edie," Clifton said. "I think it speaks volumes for her as a player that other coaches recognize what she's done in volleyball over the last few years, making AVCA all-region teams and player of the year. I certainly feel that she's a quality level player as good as anyone else in the Big South."

Fatimah Shabazz (6-0, senior, right side, Cincinnati, Ohio) returns for another season. Last season, Shabazz led the MEAC in kills per set (3.69) and ranked ninth in blocks per set (0.64).

"We're excited that all three chose to come back and compete," Clifton said. "Fatimah has two seasons left, which is nice. Having Edie and Courteney's experience and level of play in our gym every day is a nice addition."

Clifton also has a fantastic group of seniors, including Shaylnn Hall (6-1, middle blocker, Raleigh, N.C.), who led the MEAC in blocks per set (1.21) during the spring. In addition, excellent back row player Andrea Laboy-Rivera (5-5, libero, Coamo, Puerto Rico) enters her senior season with more than 1,000 career digs.

Hall enters her senior season ninth on the school's all-time block assists list (142). Giving Hall an assist upfront will be Mallory Porcher (6-0, junior, middle blocker, Orlando, Fla.). Porcher provided points at the net by averaging 0.98 kills and 0.40 blocks per set.

Laboy-Rivera has 1,067 career digs to rank fourth all-time. However, she needs 510 to surpass Ashley Johnson for the record. Another back-row talent for the

Aggies is Nadia Montalban-El Hiriche (5-6, SR, LIB, Granada, Spain). Montalban-El Hiriche averaged 2.14 digs per set to rank third on the team.
Throw in offensive threat Macenzie Richards (6-0, SR, RS, Pickerington, Ohio), who averaged 1.38 kills per set, and excellent backup setter Addy Warfield (5-9, JR, Winter Springs, Fla.), who contributed 4.20 assists per set, and the Aggies are ready to compete in the Big South.

"We have a lot of depth and a lot of experience between those two classes (COVID seniors and seniors) because they've been playing since they've started here. But it's hard to replace an Edie Brewer," Clifton said. "She's a two-time MEAC player of the year. The supporting cast and the whole group make her successful, and in return, she helps make us successful."

The Aggies added eight newcomers to the team this season with Madison Sanabria (6-0, MB, Virginia Beach, Va.), Maya Johnson (6-0, MB, Austin, Texas), Allen Morgan (5-5, DS, Charlotte, N.C.), Laurel Rogers (5-8, S, Apopka, Fla.), Ceci Carter (5-9, OH/DS, Randleman, N.C.), Hannah Howell (6-0, OH, St. Louis Park, Minn.), Naiya Sawtelle (6-0, OH, Stuart, Fla.) and Natalia Gutierrez (5-2, DS, Woodbridge, Va.).

The Aggies had less than five months between matches, with the last match on April 15.

"We are tired. But at the same time, I trained over the summer, so I feel good," Laboy-Rivera said. "I played beach volleyball over the summer and not court volleyball. We'll be okay."

The Aggies start with a trip to Clemson, S.C., for the Clemson Invitational Aug. 27-28. A&T faces Samford Friday at 5 p.m. and Clemson Saturday at 7 p.m. The program's first-ever Big South match is Sept. 24 at UNC Asheville.

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