CHARLESTON, SC – North Carolina A&T could not find a way to finish off the College of Charleston late in sets on Friday night, and it cost them in a three-set loss (25-22, 25-21, 27-25) to the Cougars at TD Arena in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) volleyball action.
It was not a great offensive night, percentage-wise, for either team. Charleston posted a .184 hitting percentage, and the Aggies ended the evening with a .121 hitting percentage. But the Cougars totaled seven blocks, led mainly by Emma Duffield's four block assists and Caroline Noonan's four block assists, as the Cougars improved to 11-6 overall and 5-2 in the CAA.
Meanwhile, the Aggies dropped to 2-3 in league play with all three losses coming on the road. They are 6-8 overall and will try to salvage a split with the Cougars when the same two teams meet at TD Arena on Saturday at 2 p.m.
"It was a tough loss to swallow tonight," said A&T head coach Hal Clifton. "Only nine points separated the sets. I thought we played well overall, but when the opportunities to take over came along, we didn't capitalize on them. I'll find us a way to get better at them, and we will be better for it. Love that we competed until the end."
A&T did show resolve throughout the match. The Aggies trailed 19-14 in the first set before two Cougar attack errors and a kill from Mikala Sampson helped the Aggies cut Charleston's lead to 21-18. A service error from A&T junior Valeria Estrada gave the Cougars set point. However, the A&T freshman duo of Nicole Ellis and Zariah Winton scored on a block assist, followed by a service ace by Winton to cut A&T's deficit to two.
Unfortunately, Winton's ace was followed by a service error, giving the Cougars a 1-0 advantage in the contest.
The Aggies trailed by four in the second set, 20-16, before a Luca Radnai kill, a Leonor Polezzi ace, and a kill from sophomore Tyne Ross contributed to a 5-2 spurt from the Aggies, cutting Charleston's lead to 22-21. A&T had trouble maintaining the momentum, however, as the Cougars scored the final three points of the set to take a 2-0 lead.
A&T had an amazing ending to the third set, even though it still ended in disappointment. Noonan earned set and match point for the Cougars, giving her team a 24-21 advantage. However, a Ross kill preceded two consecutive Cougar attack errors to tie the set at 24-24. Ross put the Aggies on the verge of extending the match with a kill before Noonan retaliated with a kill to tie the set again.
Noonan continued her late-set scoring, giving the Cougars set and match point with a kill before teaming with Julia Grinda on a block assist to give the Cougars the three-set win. Noonan finished with nine kills and Duffield had 10.
Ross led the Aggies with 13 kills, and Polezzi secured another career double-double, finishing with 28 assists and 12 digs. It marked her 17th career double-double and her sixth double-double of the season. Sophomore Anahi Alvarado led the Aggies with 14 digs, and Ellis finished with seven kills and three total blocks. She was the only player in the match to record a solo block.
