GREENSBORO – In a contest of two of the top five volleyball teams in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), North Carolina A&T had an incredible crowd assembled at historic Moore Gymnasium on Saturday.
But the Hofstra Pride used its defense to overcome the raucous crowd in a 3-0 (25-20, 28-26, 25-20) win over the Aggies. The Pride ended the evening with 14 team blocks, holding the Aggies to a .129 hitting percentage to improve to 17-2 overall and 9-2 in the CAA. Beatriz Braga led the way with 20 kills, and Julia Amorim added nine total blocks. It was the Pride's eighth straight win as it moved within a ½ game of first-place Campbell.
Meanwhile, the Aggies had their five-match winning streak snapped, dropping to 11-9 overall and 7-4 in league play.
Hofstra had some answers for the A&T hitters, holding the league's top offensive weapon, Tyne Ross, to 10 kills on a .109 hitting percentage. Freshman Zariah Winnton, the reigning CAA Rookie of the Week, had five kills. Junior Mikala Sampson finished with 11 kills, and freshman Nicole Ellis played well, ending the night with eight kills, a .536 hitting percentage and two total blocks.
In front of an enthusiastic A&T crowd, Hofstra created its own energy by jumping out to a 7-1 lead in the first set. A&T got to within four, 16-12, on a Ross service ace. The Aggies inched a little closer, cutting the Pride's lead to three at 20-17 on a Ross kill. They could not get any closer, however. Nina Jioshvili-Ravva gave the Pride set point at 24-19 with a kill before Lili Radnai kept the Aggies going with a kill. But a kill from Amorim gave the Pride a 1-0 match lead.
The second set resulted in a heartbreaking loss for the Aggies, especially considering A&T scored the first eight points of the set. Hofstra fought to get to within one, 15-14, on a Braga kill. Yet, the Aggies still had the lead toward the end of the set as Sampson's kill put the Aggies ahead 22-20. But the Pride went on a 4-0 run to reach set point with a 24-22 lead.
A Sampson kill, a Hofstra attack error and a solo block from Luca Radnai helped the Aggies regain the lead at 25-24. Braga tied the set again with a kill before Sampson put the Aggies on the brink of trying the match with another kill. However, two straight Hofstra kills followed by a Lauren Konzen ace gave the Pride a commanding 2-0 match lead.
"Obviously, not the outcome that we wanted today," said A&T head coach Hal Clifton. "We knew this was going to be a tough match, and I thought we played a good end of the first set and a solid second set. We just weren't able to close out that set. We had a great crowd tonight, and they saw some really high-level volleyball."
In the third set, Hofstra grew its lead to 20-12 and earned match point at 24-16 on a Leonor Polezzi service error. The Aggies went on a 4-0 run to get to within four before Braga and Amorim teamed up on a block assist to give Hofstra the win.
Polezzi did record her 11th double-double of the season and the 22nd of her career with 33 assists and 16 digs. The two teams face off again on Sunday at Moore Gymnasium. The first serve is scheduled for 1 p.m.
