CHARLESTON, SC – North Carolina A&T volleyball played well on Friday at the Charleston Southern Invitational at CSU Field House. Unfortunately, the day resulted in two disappointing five-set losses.
Hours after losing a five-setter in their tournament opener to Southern Illinois University, the Aggies lost 3-2 (19-25, 25-20, 23-25, 25-18, 18-16) to tournament host Charleston Southern Friday night. Against SIU, the Aggies held a 2-0 lead before the Salukis rallied. Against the Buccaneers, the Aggies took a 2-1 lead before losing in five.
Each team displayed two highly skilled outside hitters. The Aggie duo of Hannah Howell and Naiya Sawtelle finished with a combined 35 kills and a .342 hitting percentage. Howell led the way with 18 kills, a .400 hitting percentage and seven digs. Sawtelle added 17 kills, four service aces and eight digs.
Conversely, the CSU duo of Indigo Young and Giada Pais-Marden had 16 kills apiece, with Young posting a .682 hitting percentage and Pais-Marden adding a .462 hitting percentage. Young added two block assists, and Pais-Marden had three.
Sophomore Chiara Napoli added another career match outing to the day. After recording a career-high 36 assists against SIU, she returned for CSU and recorded a career-best 45 assists. In addition, her 10 digs gave Napoli her third straight double-double on the season, giving her 10 for her career.
"We played well throughout the night," said A&T head coach Hal Clifton. "We had our chances to close it out but fell short. We served pretty well, but we didn't stop Young and Pais-Marden. Sometimes, players just have their night. It's tough playing on the road, but we have to get used to it."
Leading 2-1, the Aggies committed eight attack errors in the fourth set to hit .029. In addition, Young and Pais-Marden teamed for two block assists to help the Bucs tie the match at 2-2.
In the fifth set, the two teams battled to a 9-9 tie after back-to-back kills from Kaili Doctor. The Aggies took the lead on a block assist by Madison Sanabria and Howell. But a service error by Napoli tied the set at 10. It would be one of 13 ties in the set. The two teams also underwent eight lead changes, including when the Bucs claimed set and match point at 14-13 on a Pais-Marden kill.
But Sawtelle kept the Aggies afloat with a kill before the Aggies claimed set and match point on an attack error by Skylar Yates. Pais-Marden saved the Bucs from defeat with a kill before a Sawtelle kill gave CSU a 16-15 advantage. The saga continued, however, as Sawtelle made up for her mistake with a kill to tie the set at 16.
A&T's chances of salvaging a Friday split at CSU's tournament ended on back-to-back attack errors as the Bucs improved to 3-1 on the season and the Aggies dropped to 1-3. The Aggies lost despite getting out to another great start.
A Howell kill and a Bucs attack error gave the Aggies a 22-17 lead. Sawtelle gave the Aggies a 1-0 lead on back-to-back kills to end the set. Howell and Sawtelle combined to post nine kills and a .500 hitting percentage to help the Aggies hit .355 as a team in the first set. After a service error by Yates got the Aggies to within two at 22-20 in the second set, the Bucs ended the set on a 3-0 run to tie the match 1.
A&T took a 22-19 lead in the fourth on a Liselotte Spoormakers kill. The Bucs scored the next three points, capped off by a Pais-Marden kill to tie the set at 22. The Aggies reclaimed the lead on a Pais-Marden attack error before Yates' kill tied the set. But a kill by Sawtelle and a block assist from Napoli and junior Maya Johnson gave the Aggies a 2-1 lead before CSU's rally.
Spoormakers added 10 kills and a .391 hitting percentage. Spoormakers combined to post 16 kills and a .455 hitting percentage in two matches on Friday. Yates added 10 kills and 16 digs for the Bucs. The Aggies close the tournament against UT-Chattanooga at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
