ELON, N.C. – North Carolina A&T completed the task on Sunday in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) volleyball Sunday afternoon. The Aggies earned the two-match sweep over the Elon Phoenix with a three-set win (25-23, 25-11, 26-24) at the Schar Center. 

A&T not only completed the weekend sweep, but the Aggies also completed the three-set sweep once they had the Phoenix trailing 2-0. The Aggies have lost some two-set leads in 2023, which resulted in some cases in a five-set defeat. 

But not on Sunday. The Aggies withstood an Elon onslaught to start the third set with superb play from their freshman standouts. 

"We knew Elon would come out swinging, and they jumped out to a big lead," said A&T head coach Hal Clifton. "We were able to reel them in and then finish. I was glad to see us close out the match. So many times, we have been in the driver's seat only to play four and five-setters. I'm really happy for our young ladies." 

A Caroline Doyle service ace gave the Phoenix a 6-1 lead in the third. But after an A&T timeout, the Aggies outscored the Phoenix 6-2, which included two kills from freshman Kaili Doctor and a kill from freshman Samaya Wesson to cut Elon's lead to 8-7. 

A&T took its first lead of the set, 15-14, on an ace from Morgan Allen. The Aggies took their largest lead of the set, 23-19, on a block assist from junior Madison Sanabria and Doctor. Syndey Love cut the Aggies lead to three on a kill, and Clara LaRue cut the lead to two with another kill. But the Aggies obtained set and match point on a Doctor kill. 

Caroline Berlekamp kept Elon going with a kill, and Jessica Parker made things interesting by cutting the Aggies lead to one, 24-23, with an ace. Berlekamp and Cameron Lanier combined for a block assist to tie the set at 24. 

But the Aggies would not let this three-set sweep get away from them this time. Junior Maya Johnson powered her way to a kill, and Doctor ended the match with a kill to help A&T win its third straight match, improving the Aggies to 7-11 overall and 5-5 in CAA action. 

"What an exciting win today," said Clifton. "Our ladies played with composure and confidence. I'm especially proud of how they played in the third set." 

Doctor had six kills in the set, and Wesson had two blocks. Doctor led the Aggies with 13 kills, five digs, three blocks, and one service ace. She also put together a .407 hitting percentage. Junior Naiya Sawtelle reached double-figure in kills for the ninth straight match as she finished with 10 on Sunday. Her nine consecutive double-figure kill matches tie her career high. Johnson added 10 kills and a .467 hitting percentage. 

The Aggies hit .345 for the match and .370 over the first two sets. The Aggies captured set point in the first set on a Sawtelle kill before Elon scored two straight points to cut A&T's lead to 24-23. After an A&T timeout, Sawtelle gave the Aggies a 1-0 match lead with a kill. A&T dominated the second set, hitting .409 in the set. 

Elon, who dropped to 3-16 overall and 0-10 in league play, got seven kills from Lanier.