GREENSBORO – North Carolina A&T head volleyball coach Hal Clifton knows the Aggies' 1,000-career kills club super well, including the latest member. Junior outside hitter Naiya Sawtelle joined the sorority Sunday afternoon, and the Aggies completed the weekend two-match sweep of the Hampton Pirates with a 3-0 win (25-12, 10, 14) at Moore Gymnasium.
One thousand kills club member No. 1, Arlene Mitchell, served as Clifton's assistant from 2011-15. Member No. 2, Brooke Stamnes, played under Clifton at A&T from 2012-15, and member No. 3, Courteney Pitt, played under Clifton from 2017-21.
"Congrats to Naiya on joining the 1,000-kill club here at A&T," said Clifton. "I've been fortunate to coach three of them and work with one. It's a special group of young ladies."
Sawtelle watched sophomore setter Sagaia Reilly from a short distance start to set her up for an attack with a quick pass near the net. Sawtelle coasted up to the attack line in the middle of the court, leaped and walloped the ball with one of her thunderous swings.
The attack rocketed past the block attempt of Hampton's Cortni Adams and bounced in front of Madison Clark's defensive dig attempt to land on the floor for Sawtelle's 1,00th-career kill. Sawtelle knew she needed 31 kills coming into the weekend to reach the milestone, but she was more focused on the W's.
"It was a goal, but it wasn't the main goal of the weekend," said Sawtelle. "The main part was to come out here and play our best as a team, and I think we did that. I'm super excited about getting 1,000. It's really surreal right now. All thanks to God, but I'm just excited to see where this season can go from here."
Sawtelle's historic score was one of 11 kills for her on Sunday, giving her 1,001 career kills as the Aggies improved to 4-8 overall and 2-2 in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA). Fellow junior Hannah Howell added 10 kills and a .714 hitting percentage.
In addition to having a career-high seven service aces, sophomore setter Chiara Napoli finished with 19 assists and nine digs. Reilly surpassed her career high in assists for the second straight match, posting 10 on Sunday. She also had a career-high five digs.
A&T had a productive and confidence-building weekend. In two matches over the weekend, the Aggies hit .430, outscored the Pirates 22-2 in service aces and drew two outstanding crowds to Moore. In addition, the Aggies got the opportunity to play multiple players, as 15 players entered the match for the Aggies on Sunday. The Aggies were never really threatened on Sunday, hitting .459 for the match and .684 in the second set.
"Today was another good day for Aggie Volleyball," said Clifton. "I thought our players did a good job focusing on the task at hand. We want our players to focus on the next touch and not the scoreboard or the past play. We have to be able to move to the next action mentally. We were fortunate that we were able to play a lot of people. Our players responded well."
A 22-9 start by A&T defined the first set as the Pirates recorded only two first-set kills and a minus-.034 hitting percentage. In the second set, the Aggies took a 20-7 lead, and their only attack error of the set came when the Aggies held an 18-6 lead. The Aggies ended the third set and the match on a 9-2 run.
"We needed these wins, and it's always good to defend the home court, especially in the CAA," said Clifton.
