GREENSBORO, NC – With former North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University volleyball players in attendance and back in town for the university's 100
th celebration of the Greatest Homecoming on Earth, the current A&T volleyball team secured a gigantic Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) win on Friday by beating the Towson Tigers in three sets (25-18, 25-22, 30-28) at Moore Gymnasium.
With their GHOE boost, the Aggies improved to 10-13 overall. More importantly, they moved to 5-7 in CAA play, keeping them in contention for a conference tournament berth. A&T continues to tussle with multiple teams for one of the six spots in the CAA Volleyball Championship Tournament, scheduled for Nov. 19-21 in Buies Creek, NC, on Campbell University's campus.
The Aggies started strong and ended strong against the Tigers on Friday. A&T showed resilience by keeping the match from reaching a fourth set, thanks to clutch plays in the third. The Aggies captured set and match point on a service ace from senior
Valeria Estrada. Towson tied the match on an attack error before sophomore
Zariah Winton slammed down a kill to put the Aggies back ahead.
A Towson kill and an A&T attack error followed, putting the Tigers on the brink of extending the match as they took set point at 26-25. But junior
Agata Zwierzynska and Winton powered the Aggies through with consecutive kills to regain the advantage. Towson's Malinah Purcell-Telefoni tied the set at 27-27 with a kill before junior
Luca Radnai answered with a kill to give the Aggies the edge again.
Towson tied it one last time with a kill from Anna Rice. The homecoming celebration began with a Zwierzynska kill and peaked with a block-assist from sophomore Nicole Eillis and freshman
Kirsten Kemper. Zwierzynska led the Aggies with 14 kills, a block and a .333 hitting percentage. Kemper recorded double-double No. 8 on the season with 37 assists and 10 digs.
Zwierzynska recorded nine of her 14 kills in the first set as the Aggies rebounded from their four-set loss to the Tigers on Thursday by grabbing a 20-14 lead on a Zwierzynska kill. A&T extended its lead to eight, 22-14, on another Zwierzynska kill. Winton secured set point for the Aggies at 24-18 with a kill before junior
Tyne Ross rocketed a kill to the floor to secure the set.
The second set proved tougher, but the Aggies built a working lead with a 4-0 run capped by a block-assist from Ross and Radnai to give A&T a 23-18 edge. Ross gave the Aggies set point at 24-21 before Radnai made the crowd roar again with a kill, sending A&T into the third up 2-0.
Winton aided the win with 11 kills and four digs. Radnai added eight kills, three total blocks, and a .700 hitting percentage, while Ellis recorded seven kills and two total blocks. Taylor Pagan led Towson with 10 kills as the Tigers dropped to 14-8 overall and 7-5 in league play. The Aggies return to action against Piedmont Triad rival Elon on Friday, Nov. 6, when the two teams will meet inside Moore Gymnasium, with the first serve scheduled for 6 p.m.
