CHARLESTON, SC – Considering the excellence in which the North Carolina A&T volleyball team played Friday morning's second set against Southern Illinois University (SIU) at Charleston Southern's CSU Field House, no one could have anticipated the Aggies' fortunes would turn as drastically as they did.
After winning the two sets against the Salukis, the Aggies lost the final three in a five-set loss (23-25, 13-25, 25-22, 25-17, 15-8) during their first match of the Charleston Southern Invitational. The loss dropped A&T to 1-2 on the season. The Salukis improved to 3-0 on the young season. Sophomore setter Chiara Napoli put together her second consecutive double-double with a career-high 36 assists to go along with 13 digs to mark her ninth career double-double.
Napoli's nine assists on 21 attempts in the first set led to junior Hannah Howell posting four kills, zero attack errors and a .800 hitting percentage. After SIU's Annabelle Sulish's kill robbed A&T of its serve and got the Salukis to within one at 23-22, the match was tied on an A&T attack error. But a Brinley Burdette service error and a service ace from Aggie freshman Valarie Estrada gave the Aggies the first set.
Napoli posted 10 more assists in the second set, with primarily junior Naiya Sawtelle benefitting with seven kills and a .500 hitting percentage. The Aggies had a .296 hitting percentage for the set, outscoring the Salukis 6-1 midway through the second set to take a 21-10 lead. A&T eventually took the set and a 2-0 lead in the match on a Howell kill assisted by Sawtelle.
A solo block by Doctor in the third set pulled the Aggies to within three at 11-14. SIU outscored the Aggies 5-1 from there to take a 19-12 lead, forcing the Aggies to call timeout. A 6-1 run capped by a Madison Sanabria kill got the Aggies back to within two at 20-18, reopening the possibilities of a three-set victory. But the Salukis scored the next three points to retake control of the set.
The Salukis reached set point at 24-19 on a Kelly Franklin kill. But a Doctor kill, an attack error from Tatum Tornatta and a Sawtelle kill pulled the Aggies back to within two before Nataly Garcia ended the set with a kill to cut A&T's match lead to 2-1. SIU tied the match 2-2 thanks to a fourth set that saw the Salukis post a .500 hitting percentage, making only two attack errors in 22 attempts.
They followed that by hitting .45 in the fifth and deciding set. A 5-1 run in the fifth allowed the Salukis to take a commanding 10-6 lead before closing the set and the match with a service ace from Anna Jaworski.
"We played great for 2 ½ sets and then started to spiral a bit," said A&T head coach Hal Clifton. "We failed to execute late in the third but had some really good moments throughout. We were out of system far too much in the third and fourth sets. We had a great opportunity and failed to close it out."
Sawtelle led the Aggies with 15 kills, with Howell adding 10 kills and seven digs. Meanwhile, Doctor posted a season-high nine kills. Graduate right side Liselotte Spoormakers finished with six kills, zero attack errors and a .600 hitting percentage. Morgan Allen led the Aggies defensively with 15 digs. Franklin led SIU with 11 kills and a .419 hitting percentage.
