HEMPSTEAD, NY – North Carolina A&T's Saturday did not turn out as well as hoped. The Aggies volleyball team lost in three sets to the Hofstra Pride (25-16, 26-24, 25-21) at the David S. Mack Physical Education Center.
The four first-place teams ahead of the Aggies in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) standings won, including the Pride. Even though the Aggies are guaranteed a berth in the 2024 CAA Volleyball Championship Tournament, November 21-23, in Towson, Md., the loss may have done significant damage to their hopes of claiming at least a share of the regular-season crown.
A&T dropped to 15-8 overall and 10-5 in CAA play, putting them two matches behind Hofstra, Towson, Charleston, and Delaware, who are all 12-3. Hofstra is 16-8 overall. Freshman Tyne Ross led A&T with 13 kills.
"Tough loss today, but we played pretty good for the most part," said A&T head coach Hal Clifton. "Hofstra had two big runs in each of the first two sets that created just enough of a gap that we could not close. Though we almost did in the second."
In the first set, a kill from senior Maya Johnson put the Aggies to within one, 13-12, before the Pride outscored A&T 12-4 to win the set. Then came the crucial second set, where the Aggies fell behind 20-13 after an attack error. It was a close enough play for the Aggies to challenge the call, but the call was upheld.
The Aggies closed the deficit somewhat, getting to within four, 22-18, on a Hannah Howell kill. But Hofstra responded with a kill from Yagmur Cinel to push its lead back to five. However, two ballhandling errors and a solo block from Johnson ignited an A&T comeback. After a Hofstra timeout, Ross pulled the Aggies closer, scoring on a kill to cut the Pride's advantage to 23-22.
Constanza Perez Sain steadied things for the Pride, securing a kill to give Hofstra set point at 24-22. Back came Ross with an answer, as two consecutive swings resulted in two straight kills to tie the set at 24-24. But Hofstra got a kill and a solo block from Izadora Stedile to win the set by two, giving the Pride a 2-0 match lead.
In the third set, the Aggies needed another rally as a block assist from Emily Nunes and Cinel gave the Pride a 20-15 lead. The Aggies did fight back. They went on a 3-1 spurt capped by a Hannah Howell kill to cut the Pride's lead to 21-19. Hofstra responded with two straight points before a Pride service error brought the Aggies to within three at 23-20.
A service error from the Aggies halted the momentum, giving the Pride match and set point. Luca Radnai kept the Aggies in the match with a kill before Stedile came through again for the Pride, knocking down a kill to give Hofstra the win. Stedile led the Pride with 10 kills. The two teams play again on Sunday at 1 p.m.
"Our serve-receive broke down, and that put a lot of pressure on our hitters," said Clifton. "Overall, our in-game transition and swings were pretty solid. We have a few things to clean up, and we will get after it again tomorrow."
