GREENSBORO – North Carolina A&T Volleyball came up short against the Northeastern Huskies in four sets (24-26, 25-16, 22-25, 24-26) inside Corbett Sports Center on Saturday. The loss halts the Aggies' winning streak at four as the two teams split the weekend series after the Aggies defeated the Huskies in three on Friday.
A&T dropped its first Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) match of the season to drop to 8-4 overall and 3-1 in conference play. The Huskies are even with the Aggies in the CAA standings as they moved to 5-7 overall and 3-1 in league play. Senior outside hitter Hannah Howell led A&T with a career-high 22 kills. Middle blockers Maya Johnson, Mikala Sampson, and Luca Radnai registered seven kills apiece. Johnson added three total blocks.
"We fought well today," head coach Hal Clifton said. "Set four could have gone either way. It's going to be like that in the CAA. There's so much parody, and playing a team back-to-back changes a lot of things. We'll get back at it, get in the gym, and be ready for Towson."
Northeastern, led by Kinley Gomez, Brynn Smith, and Beatrice Gennari, took control late in the first set. They led 22-17 before A&T rallied for eight straight points behind two kills from Howell to reach set point at 24-22. However, the Huskies closed the set with four consecutive points, capped off by a Carly Cooper service ace to secure the set win.
"I'm proud of how my teammates came together today," said Howell. "We celebrate each other, and we always play so much better when we play for one another. We are locked in. I don't even think about the score. We try to focus the entire length of the point and remember where we need to be on the court."
The second set was tightly contested before the Aggies raced to an 18-12 lead and sparked a Huskies timeout. That didn't slow down A&T, as they paced their opponent 7-4 the rest of the way and grew the lead to 10 at 24-14 before tying the match at 1-1 on a Huskies service error.
Sets No. 3 and 4 were neck and neck throughout, but the Huskies prevailed late in both, surviving surges by A&T. The Aggies were gaining momentum down the stretch of the final two sets, as a bad set from Northeastern's Millie Loehr put the Aggies to within one at 23-22 before kills from Gomez and Gennari gave the Huskies a 2-1 lead in the match.
The final two sets saw the score tied nine times, but the true fireworks started in the fourth set. There were four lead changes even though the Aggies trailed 16-11. They clawed their way back to take a 20-19 lead thanks to a clutch kill from Luca Radnai on an assist from sophomore Leonor Polezzi. Polezzi was a true facilitator all afternoon, recording her fourth double-double of the season as she stepped up with 34 total and a season-best 20 digs, with six of her assists coming in the fourth set.
After a 20-kill performance on Friday, freshman Tyne Ross attempted to put an exclamation mark on the weekend series by nabbing a crucial point for the Aggies to stay within one, 23-22. But Gennari put the Huskies ahead by two with a kill before Ross answered again with a solo block. Sampson followed with a kill to tie the set at 24-24. However, a Loehr kill followed by a Gabby Reeves ace gave the Huskies the set and the match. Gomez led the Huskies with 13 kills and 16 digs.
"Hats off to them," Clifton said. "They ran their middles a bit more today and found their rhythm in the system they run."
The Aggies will travel to Towson University for a weekend series against the CAA's perennial power. The weekend series starts Friday, October 4, at 3 p.m. from TU Arena before ending with a Saturday match at noon.
