N.C. A&T’s women’s volleyball team ended their three-game losing streak Sept. 23 by sweeping the Hampton Pirates in three sets (25-19, 25-10, 25-15).
This victory not only marked the Aggies’ first conference win of the season but also held significant meaning as the Aggies recognized Fatimah Shabazz.
Shabazz, a former player for A&T, passed away from a brain aneurysm. The Aggies wore purple to the game to raise awareness and honor Shabazz.
“We came out much more confident, and we definitely wanted to protect our home court,” said Naiya Sawtelle, a junior from Stuart, Florida. “We are going to win this no matter what.”
In the first set, the Pirates hung in there but fell short by six points. The Aggies combined for 16 kills and a .364 hitting percentage. While the Pirates combined for nine kills and a .304 hitting percentage. The Aggies were able to take the set after a kill from outside hitter Sawtelle.
“My goal is to get as many points as I can off of my attacks,” said Sawtelle. “I was not really scared if the block was there; I was just kind of going for it.”
A&T went on to dominate the second set. The Aggies had three blocks and combined for 13 kills on 17 attempts. The Aggies had a striking hitting percentage of .706, while the Pirates finished in the negatives with a -0.087 hit percentage.
The Pirates finished the set with five kills on 23 attempts.
In set three, the Aggies combined for 15 kills and a hitting percentage of .294. Sawtelle led the set with eight kills.
Sawtelle finished with 21 kills on 31 attempts. Other scorers were Liselot Spoormakers and Kaili Doctor, who both finished with seven kills. Setter Chiara Napoli had 25 assists.
Head coach for the Aggies, Hal Clifton, was pleased with his team’s performance.
“I thought we put together a very solid match today,” Clifton said. “We played with confidence. We handled our first touches pretty well. Our setters did a good job moving the ball around, and our hitters took some big swings. I was glad our offense flowed.”
“Defensively, we did a good job limiting their attack, and we made some nice plays in transition,” he shared.”
The following day, the Aggies faced off against the Pirates again and the result was the same. The Aggies finished off the Pirates in three sets (25-12, 25-10, 25-14).
“I thought our players did a good job focusing on the task at hand. We want our players to focus on the next touch and not the scoreboard or the past play. We have to be able to move to the next action mentally,” Clifton said. “We were fortunate that we were able to play a lot of people. Our players responded well.”
The Aggies’ next match-up will be at Stony Brook University on Saturday, Sept. 30 at 1 p.m.
