GREENSBORO-The North Carolina A&T volleyball team made history Sunday evening. On Sunday, the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) confirmed that the Aggies meet on the tiebreaker criterium to earn their first-ever berth to the CAA Volleyball Championship Tournament.

The Aggies clinched the berth by winning their sixth straight match and completing a third consecutive series sweep Sunday with a thrilling five-set win over Piedmont Triad rival Elon (25-12, 24-26, 25-27, 25-19, 15-10) in Moore Gymnasium. With the win, A&T moves to 15-7 overall and 10-4 (CAA) play.  

Clara Larue and Sydney Love led Elon with 12 kills as they fell to 11-14 overall and 5-9 in CAA play. The Aggies received some help as Stony Brook and Northeastern were defeated in their respective matches Sunday.

"I'm so happy for our team and so proud of how hard they have worked this fall," said A&T head coach Hal Clifton, who led the Aggies to their first postseason conference tournament since 2021 when the Aggies were a member of the Big South Conference. "Making the tournament was one of our major goals this season. The ladies have really had a good attitude in practice and working the process."

Now that the Aggies have secured a tournament berth, the conversation will turn to whether the Aggies can win or at least get a share of the CAA regular-season championship. A&T trails four first-place teams, which are 11-3 by one match. These teams include Towson, Delaware, Charleston, and Hofstra. A&T faces the Hofstra Pride in a two-match weekend series in Hempstead, NY, starting Saturday, November 9 at 3 p.m. The series will conclude on Sunday, November 10, at 1 p.m.

Senior Hannah Howell led the Aggies on Sunday with 22 kills and four service aces. Freshman Tyne Ross recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 18 kills and 11 digs. Sophomore Leonor Polezzi had her fourth straight double-double and 10th of 2024 with 46 assists and 14 digs. Polezzi also had four total blocks, and sophomore Valeria Estrada recorded her first career double-double with 23 digs and 13 assists. She added three aces to her totals.  

In the deciding fifth set, A&T took a 3-0 lead, forcing Elon to call a timeout. The Phoenix rallied to tie the set at 3-3 out of the timeout. Elon would take a one-point lead, 7-6, on a kill by Love. However, A&T outscored the Phoenix 6-2 from that point to take a 12-9 lead, forcing the Phoenix to call timeout. Elon's Clara LaRue did secure a kill out of the timeout, but three consecutive Ross kills gave the Aggies the historic win.

"Our team really took it personally when we picked 11th during the preseason," said Clifton about the CAA preseason poll that includes the 12 teams. "We are proud to represent North Carolina A&T and all our alumni and fans."

A&T's march toward history started with a first-set win. Elon hit only .024 in the first set, but the second set played out much differently. Elon raced out to a 4-0 lead before a kill by senior Maya Johnson put the Aggies on the board. Elon took advantage of three consecutive errors by A&T to take an 11-7 lead. The Aggies rallied to tie the set at 12. A&T took the lead 13-12 on an attack error by Clara LaRue.

The lead would grow to as many as three at 17-14 before the Phoenix went on a 3-0 scoring run to tie the set at 17. Elon finally gained an advantage when Love and Kyla Johnson earned a block assist on a swing from sophomore Mikala Sampson to give the Phoenix a 25-24. A Sampson attack error gave the Phoenix the set and tied the match at 1-1.

A&T looked to take the lead in the match in the third set, earning set points twice, first at 24-21. But Elon went on a 3-0 spurt to tie the set at 24. A kill by Howell gave the Aggies set point again at 25-24. But Elon again went on a 3-0 spurt to take the set at 27-25 and a 2-1 match advantage. In the fourth, the Aggies went on a 7-2 run to take a 23-16 lead before an Elon service error gave the Aggies set point at 24-18. Howell tied the match at 2-2, winning the set on a kill by Howell to force a fifth set.