GREENSBORO - The North Carolina A&T volleyball team has secured the fifth seed in the 2024 Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Championship Volleyball Tournament, November 21-23, at TU Arena in Towson, Md. The Aggies know they will play on Thursday, November 21 at 3 p.m. Until then, the focus is on playing superbly before the tournament starts.
That happened on Friday night at Moore Gymnasium against the UNC Wilmington Seahawks. The Aggies opened the final regular-season weekend series of the season with a three-set win (25-17, 25-16, 30-28) over the Seahawks.
"We had a good week of practice," said A&T head coach Hal Clifton. "Today was just trying to get some stuff done on the court that we need to get better at."
A&T freshman Tyne Ross helped the Aggies improve to 16-9 overall and 11-6 in CAA play with a match-high 17 kills. Senior teammate Laurel Rogers led the Aggies with eight digs and sophomore Leonor Polizzi added 37 assists.
The Aggies looked sharp over the first two sets, holding the Seahawks to a .000 hitting percentage in the second. However, the third set became very entertaining and was tremendously intriguing. Like the previous two sets, the Aggies got a quick lead, partly due to a four-point spurt fueled by back-to-back service aces from freshman Luca Radnai to take a 6-2 lead.
The lead grew to 17-10 on a Radnai kill. The Seahawks outscored the Aggies 11-3 from that point, storming back to make it a one-point set at 21-20. A&T went on another run to get set, and match point as Howell secured a kill and a service ace before a ballhandling error by UNCW's Marnie Ursem gave A&T a 24-20 lead.
What looked like an inevitable shift toward preparing for the two teams' 3 p.m. Saturday matchup at Moore turned into a "hold your horses" moment for A&T because UNCW created some compelling moments after the Aggies reached set point. An Olivia Womble kill tied the match at 24-24 before the Aggies achieved set point again on a kill by Ross.
The Seahawks took the lead and set point on back-to-back kills by A'siya Magazine. Ross held off the Seahawks' attempt to get to a fourth set with a kill to tie the match at 26-26 before Grace Melnick helped UNCW regain the lead. Another Ross kill and a block assist from senior Madison Sanabria and sophomore Mikala Sampson kept the see-saw going.
Magazine tied the set one more time before a kill by Howell and an ace by sophomore Valeria Estrada gave A&T the set and the match as UNCW dropped to 7-17 overall and 4-13 in league play.
"I've always said that Aggie Pride runs deep," said Howell. "We are playing for so much more than ourselves. We are playing for a whole community that's behind us. We're making history. We're breaking records. I'm really excited for us to do this during my senior year."
Howell started the scoring on Friday with an ace in the first set. Ross continued to dominate the set with her fourth kill, which gave the Aggies an eight-point advantage, 15-7. The Seahawks pulled to within four, 19-15, on an Ursem kill. The Aggies used a 5-1 run capped by a Radnai kill to reach set point at 24-16. Howell eventually gave A&T a 1-0 match advantage on a kill.
The second set started competitively as the Seahawks took a 7-5 lead. But after a Howell kill, freshman Charlie Meadoweal took over the serve and essentially the set. The Aggies went on a 6-0 run that included two Meadoweal aces to an 11-7 lead. UNCW called a timeout, but it did not help. A&T outscored the Seahawks 8-4 after the timeout to take a 19-11 advantage.
UNCW never got any closer than seven from there, as a Ross kill gave the Aggies a nine-point win, leading to an exciting third set. The Aggies will celebrate Senior Day on Saturday, honoring Ceci Carter, Howell, Maya Johnson, Rogers, and Madison Sanabria.
