BUIES CREEK, NC – The North Carolina A&T volleyball team is no stranger to playing from behind, and the Aggies did that a lot in a three-set win (25-20, 22, 21) against the Campbell Fighting Camels at Gore Arena. Despite the Aggies winning in three, the Camels never let A&T get comfortable.
Freshman Tyne Ross led the team with 16 kills and six digs, and senior Hannah Howell added 11 kills while posting a .381 hitting percentage. Senior defensive stalwart Maya Johnson contributed four total blocks and six kills. Sophomore setter Leonor Polezzi tallied 30 assists, three total blocks, and six digs.
A&T came together to complete a weekend sweep that pushed the Aggies overall record to 11-7 and 6-4 in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA). Campbell dropped to 3-17 overall and 1-9 in league play. Head coach Hal Clifton has consistently told his players to focus on form and process rather than the scoreboard. When they can do that, the points naturally follow. The Aggies tapped into that mentality after falling into a five-point deficit late in the second set.
"We've chased teams down a lot this year, and I figured if we could just stay steady, we would be okay, and we'd be able to fight back," Clifton said.
After a narrow first-set win for A&T, Campbell came out strong in the second. Propelled by outside hitter Gwen Wolkow, who produced 15 kills on the day, the Camels took a 15-11 lead and forced an A&T timeout.
After the break, the Aggies slowly chipped away at the lead and won nine of the final 10 points to steal the second set. Howell accounted for four of those points with three kills and a crucial service ace, and Polezzi and Johnson worked together at the net to complete a pair of blocks. A surprise setter dump from Polezzi gave A&T its 25th point, putting the team ahead 2-0 in the match.
"We did a really good job of transitioning and making some plays in that moment," Clifton said of the comeback. "We got some good serves from the endline and were able to get back in an attackable range."
The third set victory was similarly hard-earned for A&T. There were 11 ties before the Aggies took a 13-12 lead that it wouldn't relinquish. A&T began to pull away toward the end with a 24-18 advantage, but Campbell fought right back with three straight points to keep it interesting. A decisive kill from Ross prevented the Camels from stretching the match to a fourth set.
The Aggies continue to be the surprise of the CAA thus far after being picked to finish 11th out of 12 teams in the preseason coaches poll. Now sitting firmly in the upper half of the conference standings in a fifth-place tie, the Aggies will face their biggest test yet when they face off against first-place Charleston Cougars at home next weekend. The first match is slated to start at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 25 in Moore Gymnasium. The game will stream live on FloVolleyball.
"I know they've got a lot of good pieces. Our job is to defend home court and play as carefree as possible," Clifton said. "We are trying to control our own destiny, and the only way we do that is to play our style."
