GREENSBORO – North Carolina A&T volleyball played inside its usual home facility – Moore Gymnasium – for the first time during the 2025 season, and the Aggies played like they were happy to be there.
A&T had a season-best .311 hitting percentage in a three-set Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) win (25-9, 18, 19) over Hampton Friday night inside historic Moore. The Aggies are 3-0 at home, but they played their first two games at Corbett Sports Center. A&T got on track in the conference after dropping its first two matches to UNC Wilmington.
Behind 13 kills and a .400 hitting percentage from sophomore Tyne Ross, the Aggies improved to 5-7 overall. Hampton's Katerina Pappa led the Pirates with seven kills as the Pirates dropped to 1-13 overall and 0-4 in CAA action.
"Tonight's win was big for our confidence," said A&T head coach Hal Clifton. "It was a solid win, and I felt like our team did the right things at the right time."
A&T opened the match like a team appreciative of being able to play a competitive match at home for the first time in 34 days. It only took 16 minutes for the Aggies to take a 1-0 lead in the match. The Aggies posted an incredible .478 hitting percentage, ending the set on a 4-0 run thanks to two Luca Radnai kills, a kill from Ross, and a service ace from Anahi Alvarado.
Hampton played a more competitive second set. Racquel Frazier got the Pirates to within two, 14-12, with a kill. A&T responded well, outscoring the Pirates 5-1 to take a 19-13 lead. A&T never relinquished command from there. Ross gave the Aggies set point at 24-16 on a kill. Hampton scored the next two points before Ross gave the Aggies a 2-0 lead in the match with another kill.
Set No. 3 played out almost identically to Set No. 2. A Pappa kill cut A&T's lead to 14-12 before a 5-1 spurt gave the Aggies a 19-13 lead. Lily Radnai increased the Aggies lead to eight at 22-14 on a kill. Hampton outscored the Aggies 5-1 to cut A&T's lead to 23-19. Freshman Camden Scott gave the Aggies match and set point on a kill before a Leonor Polezzi ace secured the victory for A&T.
A&T distributed its offense evenly on Friday. Freshman Zariah Winton came close to a double-double, finishing with nine kills and 10 digs. She also had a solo block and two aces. Luca Radnai added six kills, a match-high three aces, one total block, and posted a .625 hitting percentage. Junior Mikala Sampson secured eight kills and two total blocks, and freshman Nicole Ellis ended the night with seven kills and two total blocks. The Aggies scored eight times on aces Friday night.
"I was very happy with our transition game and the overall effort from the service line," said Clifton. "It sure felt good to be at home in Moore Gym with our faithful supporters. It was a large and energetic crowd."
Clifton hopes that same crowd returns on Saturday when the Aggies face the Pirates again at Moore Gymnasium at 2 p.m.
