- Tyne Ross joins Arlene Mitchell, Brooke Stamnes, Courteney Pitt, and Naiya Sawtelle as Aggies who have recorded 1,000 kills in their careers.
- Ross is now fifth all-time in kills for the A&T program. She is five kills away from passing Stamnes for fourth all-time.
- UNCG and A&T have split their last four matchups, with A&T winning in 2022 and '23 and UNCG taking the last two, in 2024 and on Friday night.
GREENSBORO – The volleyball matchup between Gate City rivals UNC Greensboro and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University was about as entertaining and exciting as a four-set match can be.
Unfortunately, the Division I school west of Market Street came away with the four-set win (25-19, 21-25, 26-24, 25-23) over A&T after thrilling finishes in the third and fourth sets. The key takeaway for A&T was junior
Tyne Ross becoming the fifth player in program history to reach 1,000 kills for a career after finishing with 18 kills and nine digs.
In addition, junior
Agata Zwierzynska and senior
Mikala Sampson also reached double-figure kills, with Zwierzynska recording a season-high 14 kills to go along with two service aces and one total block. Meanwhile, Sampson posted season highs in kills (10) and hitting percentage (.400). Junior
Charlie Meadoweal recorded a career-high 18 assists to go along with six digs.
UNCG hit .344 in the first set to defeat the Aggies by six. Then, in the second set, the Aggies grabbed a 13-8 lead and kept the Spartans at a distance from there. A Ross kept the Aggies in front by four, 21-17, before Ross smacked down another kill to give the Aggies set point at 24-21. A Spartan attack error helped the Aggies even the match at 1-1.
The next two closing sets could have easily gone in the Aggies' favor, including the third set, where the Aggies took set point at 24-21 on a Ross kill. But out of a UNCG timeout, Connoré Siler-Nixon and Hailey Clifton combined for a block assist to bring the Spartans to within two. A solo block from Allie Sweet cut A&T's lead to 24-23 before another block assist, this time from Siler-Nixon, tied the match 24-24.
The Spartans completed their 5-0 run to win set No. 3 on a Ross attack error and an ace from Mia Nicklas. In the fourth, the two Greensboro schools again found themselves in another competitive set. An attack error by A&T gave the Spartans a 19-18 advantage. But A&T put together a 3-0 run started by a
Luca Radnai kill and capped off by an ace from sophomore
Zariah Winton, giving A&T a 21-19 lead.
UNCG called another timeout, which proved to be effective again. Out of the timeout, the Spartans scored the next two points to tie the set. But Sampson halted the short spurt to put the Aggies back in front with a kill. However, the Spartans scored three straight, finished off by a Sweet kill to give the Spartans set and match point at 24-22.
Ross kept the Aggies in it with another career kill, but Sweet improved the Spartans to 4-2 with a kill. Three Spartans reached double-digit kills, led by Sweet and Kendall Lanclos, who had 14 apiece. The Aggies will complete three matches in three days when they face the Davidson Wildcats from Corbett on Saturday at 6 p.m.
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