CHARLESTON, SC – The frustrating part about the North Carolina A&T volleyball team's weekend at Charleston Southern University's CSU Invitational at the CSU Field House is that the Aggies played really well.
But the results will say A&T went 0-3 at the invitational after the Aggies endured a 3-0 loss to Chattanooga (25-19, 25-20, 27-25) during the tournament's final day on Saturday. During the tournament, the Aggies lost two five-setters and a competitive three-setter to drop to 1-4 on the season.
Sophomore Chiara Napoli secured two double-doubles over the weekend, averaged 8.31 assists per set in recording her career-high in the statistical category twice over the weekend, averaged 2.23 digs per set, and 0.62 service aces per set.
Graduate right side Liselotte Spoormakers also played well, averaging 2.08 kills per set while recording a .415 hitting percentage. Napoli recorded a career-high in assists for a three-set match for the second time this season, as she posted 27 on Saturday. She also had five service aces and six digs.
Junior outside hitter Hannah Howell hit .231 in averaging 2.73 kills per set, and fellow junior outside hitter Naiya Sawtelle, the reigning Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) offensive player of the week, led the Aggies with a total of 44 kills. In addition, Sawtelle went over the 900-kill career mark. Only six other Aggies have accomplished that in their respective careers. Sawtelle also earned all-tournament honors for the second straight week and earned her eighth career all-tournament recognition.
Freshman outside Kaili Doctor led the Aggies on Saturday with 13 kills. She had 25 kills for the weekend, including a .268 hitting percentage.
"Naiya had another good weekend, as did Lotte," said A&T head coach Hal Clifton. "We got a lot of production out of her (Lotte) offensively as she hit .415 for the weekend. All our pins played well, I thought, as a whole."
The Aggies easily could have come into Saturday's competition 2-0 during the tournament after they grabbed a 2-0 lead over Southern Illinois University before losing in five and held a 2-1 lead over CSU before losing in five. On Saturday, however, the Aggies trailed 2-0 heading into the third set.
To reverse fortunes as was done to them on Friday, the Aggies put together a 6-1 spurt in the third, aided by two kills apiece from Doctor and Sawtelle and two Maya Johnson aces to take a 22-17 lead. Unfortunately, the Mocs responded with a 5-1 run to cut A&T's lead to one at 23-22. Sawtelle got the Aggies back on track with a kill to give the Aggies set point.
But back-to-back attack errors by A&T tied the set at 24. The Mocs earned set and match point when Morgan Romano and Marcelle Baez-Carlo blocked a Doctor attack attempt. But Spoormakers kept the Aggies in the game with a kill before Gylian Finch came through with a kill, and Romano followed with another kill to give the Mocs the win, improving their record to 5-1.
The Mocs took control of the first set with an 8-2 run to take a 22-14 lead. Chard'e Vanzandt ended the set with a kill to give the Mocs a 1-0 lead, as Finch had four kills. An 8-1 run in the second set propelled the Mocs to victory in the second set despite six kills from Doctor.
"I thought we played a pretty good second set and a solid third set," said Clifton. "However, we were on our heels most of the day, trying to find the rhythm of our offense. Chattanooga served really well today and had a lot of confidence from the end line. We made a few adjustments but couldn't pull out the third set."
Sawtelle added 12 kills, eight digs and two aces. Spoormakers added nine kills, a .350 hitting percentage and two aces. Freshman Valarie Estrada recorded a season-high 10 digs. Finch led the Mocs with 12 kills.
