EAST GREENSBORO – North Carolina A&T won its fourth consecutive volleyball match and its fifth in six tries as they defeated UNC Wilmington for the second straight day in five sets (25-22, 20-25, 21-25, 25-21, 15-12) on Sunday afternoon inside Moore Gymnasium.
There were other streaks kept alive on Sunday. Sophomore Naiya Sawtelle recorded her third consecutive double-double as she finished with 18 kills, 13 digs, four blocks, one solo and two service aces. It is her seventh double-double of the season and the 16th of her career. Sophomore Hannah Howell posted her second consecutive double-double and her sixth of the season with 13 kills, 12 digs and three block assists.
The Aggies improved to 9-13 overall and 5-7 in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) by improving to 5-3 on five-set matches this season. The Aggies have won their last five-set matches, and three of their wins during the winning streak came in five sets. UNCW (3-16, 1-9 CAA) lost its ninth straight match.
"It was really good resilience on our part," A&T head coach Hal Clifton said. "The girls kept it together late in the third and fourth.
Clearly, in the fifth set, we got a good early start and finished from there. It was a nice weekend."
For the second straight day, the Aggies found themselves in a 2-1 hole going into the fourth set. A&T found themselves in a deficit after the Seahawks scored the final five points of the third set to win.
"We were missing, but we weren't missing badly," Clifton said after the third set. "We had to stay focused and keep trusting the process. The misses were good misses. We had to clean up a few things here and there, but we stayed steady, and I felt like that gave us the edge and the confidence to come back in the fourth and fifth sets."
With the match on the line in the fourth set, the two Aggie setters combined to give the Aggies a 19-17 lead as senior Addy Warfield assisted Chiara Napoli on a kill. But UNCW got kills from Emily Hanlon and Katie Lanz to tie the set at 19.
The Aggies then called what turned out to be a well-placed timeout. After the break, Sawtelle and Maya Johnson came away with kills coupled with a Seahawks attack error, giving the Aggies a 22-19 advantage.
UNCW then called timeout and reaped temporary benefits, earning a point on a block assist from Grace Melnick and Caitlyn Callahan. However, the Aggies countered by turning to one of the top scorers in the country in Sawtelle as she posted points on back-to-back kills to give the Aggies set point at 24-20. Following another block assist from Melnick and Callahan, Sawtelle forced set five with a thunderous kill.
Saturday's fifth set saw the Aggies grab a 6-2 lead before winning. Sunday's fifth set saw the teams trade off points until a Napoli kill and a Lanz attack error gave A&T a 9-6 lead. After a Seahawks timeout, Callahan scored on a kill before a Sawtelle kill, and a Napoli service ace put the Aggies ahead by four, 11-7.
UNCW kept fighting, scoring the next two points. But a 3-0 A&T run that included a Johnson/Howell block assist gave the Aggies set and match point at 14-9. UNCW responded with two kills and a block assist from Brooke Hanshumaker and Alexa Brezault to make it a two-point set. But all is well in AggieLand as graduate Liselott Spoormakers scored on a cross-court attack to keep the Aggies in contention for a CAA tournament berth.
The Aggies win, and a Stony Brook loss put the Aggies in eighth place in the CAA standings. The top-8 teams qualify for the tournament held Nov. 17-19 in Towson, Md.
Napoli added 24 assists, nine kills and nine digs for the Aggies on Sunday. Senior Mallory Porcher finished with seven kills and six blocks, including two solo blocks and she posted a .438 hitting percentage.
Johnson had a match-high seven block assists, and Warfield added 25 assists and nine digs.
