BLACKSBURG, Va. – North Carolina A&T earned a historic volleyball win over Virginia Tech on Saturday at the Virginia Tech Hokie Invite at Cassell Coliseum.
The Aggies come-from-behind five-set win (26-28, 22-25, 25-23, 25-20, 15-12) is the program's first-ever win against a school from one of the Power Five conferences and certainly the first win over an ACC program.
The Aggies entered the match 0-16 against the ACC all-time, including two losses this season. A&T was 0-24 against Power Fives before today.
Edie Brewer (6-0, GR, setter, West Chester, Ohio) earned the tournament's MVP honor. Naiya Sawtelle (6-0, FR, outside hitter, Stuart, Fla.) and Fatimah Shabazz (6-0, SR, right side, Cincinnati, Ohio) joined Brewer on the all-tournament team.
The Aggies (8-4) rallied from a 2-0 deficit to force a fifth game. The Aggies eight non-conference wins are the most since 2017 when they also won eight non-conference contests.
With the fifth and deciding set tied at 11, the Aggies historic win was made complete by a 4-1 run. Sawtelle had a kill during the run.
"I love that our team never gave up after the first set loss," head coach Hal Clifton said. "It took us a little while to get our composer back, but once we were able to make adjustments and secure the win against a very good Virginia Tech team. Marci (Byers) does a nice job, and I knew they would be ready for us. We had to make some quick changes, and the ladies handled it well. I'm really proud of our grit and for not backing down. This is a big win for our program, and I'm so happy for the ladies."
Sawtelle opened the match with five kills, only one attack error on 10 attack attempts for a .400 hitting percentage. VT still held a 24-23 lead despite Sawtelle's play. A&T took a 26-25 lead, but the Hokies (9-3) scored the final three to win the first set.
Brewer had four kills in the first set.
A&T remained close in the second set, trailing 21-20. VT outscored the Aggies 4-2 to take a 2-0 match lead despite a .571 hitting percentage from Shabazz that included four kills. Hannah Howell (6-0, FR, OH, St. Louis Park, Minn.) also had four kills in the set.
A&T led from start to finish in the third set and had a 21-14 lead. Despite the Hokies outscoring the Aggies 9-4, the Aggies held on to cut the VT's match lead to 2-1. Brewer connected on five of her nine attempts for a .556 hitting percentage during the set. Shabazz recorded four kills with one error on six attempts for a .500 hitting percentage.
VT got within three against the Aggies at 20-17. But the Aggies scored the next three points to increase the lead to 23-17. VT scored the next three points to cut the lead to 23-20, but the Aggies scored the final two points to win the set by five points and tie the match at two, forcing a match-deciding fifth set.
"We knew we were the underdogs coming in so we played like we had nothing to lose," Morgan Allen said. "We believed in ourselves and our teammates and played together. Everyone stepped up to get the big points when it was needed most."
Brewer nearly recorded a triple-double with 14 kills, 27 assists, and nine digs. She also had a .281 hitting percentage, and Shabazz recorded 13 kills, five blocks, two digs and a .300 hitting percentage.
Andrea Laboy-Rivera (5-5, SR, libero, Coamo, Puerto Rico) led the Aggies with 14 digs and added five assists. Sawtelle had 13 kills, nine digs and three blocks. Howell added 11 kills, seven digs and two service aces.
Shaylynn Hall (6-0, SR, middle blocker, Raleigh, N.C.) recorded a match-high eight blocks and added eight kills with a .353 hitting percentage. Addy Warfield (5-9, JR, setter, Winter Springs, Fla.) added 21 assists and six digs, and Mallory Porcher (6-0, JR, middle blocker, Orlando, Fla.) added seven kills and three blocks.
Griere Hughes led the Hokies with 13 kills, Brie Postema had 26 assists and Logan Mosley finished with 16 digs.
