WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – North Carolina A&T's Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) volleyball match against the William & Mary Tribe Thursday night turned on a close second set as the competitive set propelled the Tribe to a four-set win (23-25, 25-22, 25-14, 25-18) over the Aggies at Kaplan Arena. 

A&T had its three-match winning streak snapped to fall to 7-12 overall and 5-6 in CAA play. The Tribe improved to 12-9 overall and 7-4 in league play. The Aggies got off to a good start in their quest to extend their winning streak. In the first set, the Aggies took a 20-15 lead on a Tribe attack error. 

But the Tribe responded by outscoring the Aggies 8-2 to take a 23-22 lead. But junior Naiya Sawtelle got the Aggies back on track with a kill to tie the set at 23. A&T, one of the top teams in the CAA in blocks, won the set with their defense at the net. Back-to-back block assists from freshman Samaya Wesson and sophomore Chiara Napoli gave the Aggies a 1-0 match lead. Sawtelle had six kills in the set. 

Two consecutive Sawtelle kills in the second gave the Aggies a 20-19 advantage. That lead grew to two after an attack error from Eleanor Stothoff. But the Tribe grabbed the lead with a 3-0 spurt to take a 22-21 lead. With an assist from Napoli, junior Maya Johnson tied the set at 22. But a block assist from Tribe duo Katherine Arnason and Sabrina Malcolm helped the Tribe reclaim the lead for good. 

An A&T attack error and a kill from Sarah Callender gave the Tribe the set, tying the match at 1. William & Mary used that momentum to take the third and fourth sets as the Aggies hit a combined .000 over the final two sets. 

"Today was a tough loss on the road," said A&T head coach Hal Clifton. "We played well in spurts. The second set just slipped away from us. I think if we take that set, the match changes. We played some great points but didn't get the results. Sometimes that happens. 

Offensively, we struggled to put some balls away. Defensively, we blocked a few balls and made some digs. We will get back at it tomorrow, ready to compete for the win." 

Sawtelle finished with 16 kills, and in the process, she became the second all-time leader in program history in kills, passing Courteney Pitt. Sawtelle has 1,116 career kills going into Friday's 7 p.m. match at William &Mary. Sawtelle also had 12 digs for her eighth double-double of the season and the 27th of her career. 

A&T finished with 12 team blocks, led by Wesson's eight. Johnson added seven kills and five blocks, and junior Madison Sanabria finished with four blocks. Eleanor Stothoff led the Tribe with 11 kills and five blocks.