BOSTON, Mass. – The North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University volleyball team came out strong in its first road test in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play.
However, Northeastern found its rhythm and closed out the Aggies in four sets on Friday (23-25, 25-19, 25-20, 25-12) at the Cabot Center in A&T's CAA opener. A&T dropped its fifth straight to fall to 5-7 on the season despite another double-double from junior
Tyne Ross, who had 16 kills and 10 digs for her 13
th career double-double and fourth of the season.
Sophomore
Zariah Winton added 15 kills and eight digs, and freshman setter
Kirsten Kemper recorded her third double-double of the season with 21 assists and 11 digs. Eight of Kemper's assists came in the first set as the Aggies rallied against the Huskies to take an early advantage in the match.
The Aggies trailed 23-20 before a
Tyne Ross kill cut the deficit to two. Ross fired off another kill thanks to an assist from Kemper. Two straight Huskie attack errors gave the Aggies the lead and set point at 24-23. After a Northeastern timeout, the Huskies' third straight attack error secured set No. 1 for A&T.
After nine lead changes and eight ties, Northeastern used a 5-1 run to build a working lead in the second set at 15-11. The Aggies answered with two points on a service error and an attack error, then stayed within two after a Ross kill made it 16-14 and a
Mikala Sampson kill cut it to 17-15.
Northeastern outscored the Aggies 4-2 from there, leading to an A&T timeout. A block assist from Northeastern's Beatrice Gennari and Arina Sosinovica, along with an Aggies attack error, pushed the lead to 23-17. An A&T service error gave the Huskies set point at 24-19 before Kylin Daniels' kill tied the match at 1-1.
A&T hit .095 in the third set as the Huskies pulled ahead 20-13. The Aggies got no closer than four at 21-17 on a Winton kill. Northeastern won the set by five, then hit .441 in the fourth to secure its first conference win of the season. The Huskies improved to 3-8 overall and 1-2 in league play, led by 17 kills apiece from Valentina Meirelles and Cayenne Ceman.
"I really liked how we battled in the first set coming from behind to take the set," said A&T head coach
Hal Clifton. "Unfortunately, after that, we struggled offensively. Even though the scores weren't great, we did have some good moments. We can build off those. Looking forward to seeing how we respond tomorrow."
The two teams will conclude their two-match series on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Cabot Center.
