WILMINGTON, NC – North Carolina A&T will look toward its volleyball home opening weekend after opening weekend in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) did not go the Aggies way. For the second straight afternoon, UNC Wilmington served the ball well and executed on offense, beating the Aggies 3-0 (25-17, 18, 22) Sunday afternoon at Hanover Hall.
UNCW also won in three on Saturday, improving to 5-7 overall and 2-0 in CAA play. The Aggies dropped to 2-8 overall and are off to an 0-2 in the conference.
Junior Naiya Sawtelle moved slightly closer to A&T volleyball program history on Sunday, posting 16 kills, five digs, and three blocks with a .333 hitting percentage. That makes her 31 kills shy of 1,000 for her career. Once she gets there, she would become only the fourth Aggie to slam down 1,000 kills in a career.
Sophomore Chiara Napoli finished with a match-high 24 assists to go along with nine digs, and senior Morgan Allen recorded 13 digs and three assists.
The Aggies got off to a good start on Sunday. A Sawtelle kill gave the Aggies a 15-12 lead. But the Seahawks ran off seven straight points, forcing two A&T timeouts in the process to take a 19-15 lead. Napoli ended the Seahawks' streak with a kill, but UNCW ran four more consecutive points to take a commanding 23-16 lead.
Freshman Kaili Doctor cut the Seahawks lead to six on a kill before a Charlotte Cronister kill, and an attack error from Liselotte Spoormakers gave UNCW the set and a 1-0 lead.
The second set saw momentum swing in UNCW's favor around the same time as in the first. After a UNCW attack error got the Aggies to within one at 15-14, the Seahawks went on a 7-1 run to take a seven-point lead. UNCW claimed set point at 24-16 with a Katie Lanz service ace, one of nine on the afternoon for the Seahawks.
A&T responded with a kill from Sawtelle and a block assist from Sawtelle and Maya Johnson to cut the UNCW lead to 24-18 before the set ended on a kill from Emily Hanlon to give the Seahawks a 2-0 lead in the match.
A&T had its best set of the weekend despite UNCW taking a 7-2 lead to start the third set. The Aggies steadily chipped away at the UNCW lead, taking the lead at 14-13 on a Sawtelle solo block. The Aggies took their final lead of the set at 18-17 on a Doctor kill. The Seahawks outscored the Aggies 3-1 following Doctor's kill to take a 21-19 lead.
The Aggies did fight back to tie the set at 22 on a kill apiece from Johnson and Napoli. But a block assist from Caitlyn Callahan and Hanlan and a kill apiece from A'siya Magazine and Grace Melnick ended the set and the match.
Lanz led the Seahawks with 15 kills and four digs. The Aggies will play their home opener against Hampton on Friday, Sept. 23, at 2 p.m., at Moore Gymnasium. A&T will recognize Aneurysm Awareness on Friday in honor of Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) champion and All-MEAC standout Fatimah Shabazz, who died of an aneurysm on Nov. 28, 2021. The same two teams will play again on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Moore.
