GREENSBORO – After the North Carolina A&T Aggies and the Hofstra Pride did the customary fifth set switching of sides during their Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) volleyball match Sunday afternoon at Moore Gymnasium, something clicked for the Aggies.
After losing a two-set lead to the Pride, the Aggies resisted Hofstra's comeback attempt by winning in five sets, 25-23, 25-21, 19-25, 20-25, 15-13.
Maybe what clicked was the memory of losing a two-set lead last Sunday in the loss at Stony Brook. Perhaps they remembered past fifth-set disappointments from this season and did not want to experience it again. Whatever it may have been, A&T's play after the midway point of the fifth set looked incredible.
Outside hitters Naiya Sawtelle and Kaili Doctor took over the fifth set with surgical precision. Sawtelle recorded six kills in the set without an attack error, and Doctor posted five with only one. When the two teams switched sides, Hofstra was poised to overcome a 2-0 deficit in the match, leading 8-3.
Hofstra kept the lead at five, 9-4, on a Clara Bal kill. But A&T would not have it in its house on Sunday. A&T used four consecutive Doctor kills to pull to cut Hofstra's lead to one. After the Pride scored the next two points, Chiara Napoli scored on a set kill to put the Aggies down two, 11-9. Yagmur Cinel moved Hofstra's lead back to three with a kill before Sawtelle, the conference leader in kills per set, started to assert herself.
A 4-0 run aided by two Sawtelle kills, and two Hofstra attack errors gave the Aggies a 13-12 lead. Cinel tied the set at 13 with a kill before Sawtelle ended the match with back-to-back kills.
Sawtelle recorded her 12th career 20-plus kill match with 21 on Sunday. Sawtelle's 14 digs gave her a double-double, the 25th of her career and the sixth this season. Sawtelle also secured four blocks. Doctor recorded her fourth straight double-figure kills match with 14 to go along with three blocks.
Meanwhile, Maya Johnson ended the afternoon with a career-high 11 kills. Napoli recorded her fourth straight double-double as she finished 42 assists, 14 digs and four blocks on Sunday. The Pride dropped to 14-5 overall and 4-4 in league play despite getting 17 kills, 12 digs and two aces from Izadora Stedile.
"Our ladies showed a lot of resilience late in the match," said A&T head coach Hal Clifton. "I'm proud of how they kept their composure and took big swings late in the fifth. This should give us some confidence moving forward."
The win improved A&T to 5-11 overall and 3-5 in CAA play. The Aggies were 0-5 this season in five-set matches before Sunday. Dating back to last season, the Aggies had lost seven straight five-setters. It did not appear the Aggies were headed toward a five-setter on Sunday.
They gutted out a tough first-set win as Hofstra rallied from a 23-20 deficit to tie the set at 23. But Sawtelle and freshman Samaya Wesson teamed for a block assist, and Wesson produced a solo block to give the Aggies a 1-0 lead.
The second set saw the Aggies go on a 4-0 run highlighted by two Madison Sanabria blocks and two Johnson kills to give the Aggies a 21-18 lead. The Pride never got any closer than three the rest of the set as a Valerie Estrada service ace ended the set, giving the Aggies a 2-0 lead.
Hofstra used a .393 hitting percentage to win the third set, and the Aggies hit .031 in the fourth to aid the Pride in tying the match at 2-2 before it clicked for the Aggies, and Clifton may know why.
"We had another great crowd today cheering us on," Clifton said. "It really means a lot when the crowd is energetic and cheering. Our team feeds off that."
