Women's Volleyball | 10/19/2023 4:45:00 PM

GAME: North Carolina A&T (7-11, 5-5 CAA) at William & Mary (16-5, 11-9 CAA) 
DATE: October 19-20, 2023                                              
TIME(s): 7 p.m./7 p.m. 
LOCATION: Williamsburg, Va. (Kaplan Arena) 
FLOVOLLEYBALL ANNOUNCERS: N/A

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – North Carolina A&T comes into Thursday night's contest at William & Mary with a three-match winning streak on the line. The Aggies ended a home weekend series against Hofstra with a win before traveling approximately 20 miles to Elon to earn a weekend sweep over the Phoenix. On Saturday, the Aggies earned their first win over the Phoenix in 17 years, ending a 14-match losing streak to their Piedmont neighbors. 

The 3-0 win on Sunday yielded the Aggies their first three-set win over Elon in 25 years. Freshman Kaili Doctor continues to play well, earning her second consecutive rookie of the week honor and her third of the season. The Aggies are in a three-way tie for seventh as play begins tonight. 

William & Mary had its four-match winning streak ended on Saturday with a three-set loss at Hofstra. The Pride completed the sweep of the Tribe with a three-set win on Sunday. The Tribe is in a two-way tie for fifth place as the race for entry into the 2023 CAA Volleyball Championship Tournament, Nov. 16-18 in Towson, Md., starts to heat up.   

STORYLINES: 

• The Aggies and the Tribe will meet for the eighth and ninth times this week. William & Mary leads the all-time series, 5-2. William & Mary is 2-0 all-time against the Aggies in Williamsburg, Va., and 2-0 on a neutral court. 
• The two teams split last season, with the Aggies winning 3-2 in Moore Gymnasium on Oct. 8 before falling to the Tribe 3-0 the following day in Moore. 
• Kaili Doctor and Northeastern's Abby Reck are in a tight race to see who can claim the most CAA rookie of the week awards. Doctor has captured the CAA's last two weekly rookie awards. She also won the honor on Sept. 25. Reck won rookie of the week on Sept.4, Sept. 11 and Oct. 2. 
• Doctor won rookie of the week after compiling 28 kills over two matches and eight sets played to average 3.50 for the weekend. Doctor has recorded double-figure kills in her last six matches, including a career-high 19 at Stony Brook on Sept. 30. Also in her previous six matches, Doctor has compiled a .260 hitting percentage.
• The Aggies have been pretty good at the net lately. The Aggies are averaging 10.7 blocks per match during their three-match winning streak. 
• Junior Madison Sanabria jumped in on the fun with nine blocks, including three solos against Elon on Saturday. Sanabria is the 13th player in program history to have a 9-block match. 
• Freshman middle blocker Samaya Wesson has come on lately at the net with 15 blocks in her last 17 sets played. Junior Maya Johnson ranks ninth in the league in blocks per set (0.93). 
• Naiya Sawtelle continues to have an excellent junior campaign. She leads the CAA in kills (3.99) and points per set (4.55). She has recorded double-figure kills in her last nine matches, which ties a career high. She has four 20-plus kills this season and 13 for her career. 
• Sawtelle enters this week's matches with 1,100 career kills. She needs nine kills to pass Courteney Pitt as the Aggies' second all-time leader in kills. She is 564 kills behind all-time leader Arlene Mitchell. 
• The double-doubles have been flying off the shelves for the Aggies this season because they have played in seven five-setters this season. Chiara Napoli leads the Aggies with nine double-doubles in 2023, including double-doubles in five straight matches from Sept. 30-Oct. 14. Napoli has 16 career double-doubles. 
• Sawtelle has seven double-doubles on the season. He gives her 26 for her career. Two of her double-doubles have come in three-set matches this season.