HEMPSTEAD, NY – North Carolina A&T's focus will now turn to finishing the 2024 regular season with solid play before heading into the 2024 Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Championship Volleyball Tournament. On Sunday, the Aggies were officially mathematically eliminated from contention to win the CAA regular-season championship after the Hofstra Pride completed a weekend sweep of A&T with a three-set win (25-19, 16, 17) at the David S. Mack Physical Education Center.
A&T produced a .114 hitting percentage, falling to 15-9 overall and 10-6 in the CAA. Hofstra got 16 kills and three service aces from Constanza Perez Sain, improving to 17-8 overall and 13-3 in the league. The Pride is still in a four-way first-place tie with Towson, Delaware, and College of Charleston.
"Another tough match for us today," said A&T head coach Hal Clifton. "Hofstra was hitting on all cylinders. We did what we could to slow them down, but today was just not our day. We did not side out, and we gave up too many big runs and too many mini runs. We battled back but we created too deep of a hole."
Freshman Tyne Ross led the Aggies with 10 kills. But Hofstra took control of the match early and never relinquished it. The Pride took an 8-2 lead in the first set. The Aggies got to within three, 9-6, on a Leonor Polezzi service ace. Hofstra rebuilt its lead to 17-9 on a block assist from Emily Nunes and Izadora Stedile.
From there, it was an uphill battle for the Aggies. Perez Sain gave the Pride set point at 24-16 before A&T ran off three straight points thanks to two kills from Howell and a block assist from Howell and senior Maya Johnson. Perez Sain, however, gave Hofstra a 1-0 match lead with a kill. The start to the match's second set was much better for A&T.
A Polezzi ace tied the set at 7-7. Hofstra responded with a 9-4 spurt that led to A&T calling timeout, trailing 16-11. Two consecutive kills after the timeout led to another Aggies timeout, but by then, Hofstra had a firm grip on the set, reaching set point at 24-16 on a Nunes kill. Nunes ended the set and gave the Pride a two-match lead with another kill.
A Perez Sain kill gave the Pride a 4-1 lead in the third set before Howell got the Aggies to within two, 8-6, on a kill. Hofstra went on a 5-0 run to take a 13-6 lead. The Aggies got no closer than five the remainder of the set as Hofstra took a 24-14 lead before two consecutive Ross kills and a block assist from junior Jada Hampton and Ross cut the advantage to seven.
A Yagmur Cinel kill gave Hofstra the match, turning A&T's attention to UNC Wilmington for its final weekend series of the season. The first of two matches against the Seahawks is Friday, November 15, at 6 p.m. at Moore Gymnasium. The Aggies will celebrate Senior Day on Saturday, November 16 at 3 p.m.
