STONY BROOK, NY – The North Carolina A&T volleyball team played well enough in New York this weekend to get at least one win. But unfortunately, two come-from-behind wins by the Stony Brook Seawolves on Saturday and Sunday prevented that from happening.
After A&T took a two-set lead at Pritchard Gymnasium on Sunday, Stony Brook rallied to win three straight sets in a 3-2 (15-25, 18-25, 25-23, 26-24, 15-5) win in a Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) volleyball contest. After the weekend, the Aggies are 4-10 overall and 2-4 in the CAA. The Seawolves improved to 7-9 overall and 3-3 in league play.
"It was a heartbreaking loss," said A&T head coach Hal Clifton. "We just didn't finish what we started early on in the match. We made adjustments from yesterday's match, and things were going well. We had our chances to close out the match but just couldn't."
After losing the third set to have their lead cut to 2-1 going into the fourth set, the Aggies did look poised to claim victory. Stony Brook used the momentum from winning set No. 3 to take a 10-6 lead. But the Aggies went on a 9-1 run capped by Madison Sanabria and Hannah Howell combining on a block assist to give the Aggies a 15-11 lead.
That lead ballooned into a 20-15 lead on a Naiya Sawtelle kill before the Seawolves put together a 4-1 spurt of their own to get to within two at 21-19. But the Aggies scored the next two points before an attack error cut A&T's lead to 23-20. But when Sanabria leaped above the net, slamming down a kill followed by her celebrating by jumping up and down and stomping the floor, the Aggies set match point. It appeared the Aggies had fought off a repeat of Saturday's comeback win by the Seawolves.
But surprisingly, the Seawolves scored the next six points, ending the set on back-to-back kills from Kali Moore to force a fifth set. Once the fifth set started, unfortunately, there was no reversing Stony Brook's momentum again. They jumped out to an 11-0 lead, leaving little doubt about the outcome.
"I feel for the team because I thought we played hard and put ourselves in a position to win," said Clifton. "We will keep growing and learning."
A&T played beautifully in the first two sets. They combined to post a .410 hitting percentage and scored seven points off blocks. They ended the first set with four straight points, including three consecutive kills and a block assist from Sanabria and Sawtelle. The Aggies finished the second set on a 5-0 run as Maya Johnson and Chiara Napoli combined twice on block assists. Even after falling behind 24-21 in the third set, the Aggies rallied to make it 24-23 before the Seawolves took the set on an Abby Stanwood kill.
Despite the loss, the Aggies had some significant accomplishments in the match. Johnson tied the single-match school record for total blocks with 11. She joins Stefani Eddins, Tonga LoLeini and Shaylynn Hall as Aggies who have reached that total in a single match.
Sanabria finished with career highs in kills (8) and blocks (7). Napoli had a huge match with 36 assists, 10 digs, eight blocks, four kills, 36 assists and two service aces. Her eight blocks are a career high, and she recorded her fifth double-double of the season, and 12th of her career. Sawtelle has 23 double-doubles in her career and five this season after posting 16 kills and 10 digs.
Freshman Kaili Doctor had 13 kills, and Morgan Allen had 23 digs. Stony Brook had four players with double-figure kills, led by Leoni Kunz with 16.
