Aggie fans packed Moore gym for the volleyball game against rival N. C. Central last Friday. A&T fell short once again, losing to the Eagles in a five game tiebreaker, making their overall record 0-20.
Freshman outside hitter Brooke Stamnes said, “We fought really hard throughout the whole game, but things just didn’t go our way sometimes.” Stamnes remained a crucial player to the game, contributing 18 kills, a personal season high, which contributed to a team season high of 63 kills. Junior setter and right side hitter Chelsea Fox added to those kills with a career high of 52 assists.
A&T started the first match serving to NCCU, rallying the entire time and remaining tied in points for the majority of the match. The Aggies battled with the Eagles from a tied 23 points all the way to 30 points to close out the first match with a score of 30-28.
The Aggies controlled the game defensively and freshman defensive specialist, Ashley Johnson, dominated by covering short, long, cross court, and off the block shots. The team’s defense and communication were strong during the game.
Leading the second game by five points the Aggies committed many service errors and faced questionable calls from referees that allowed for an Eagle come back.
Despite losing the second match the Aggies came back in match three to win by 11 points with a score of 25-14. At the end of game four, Aggies fell short to the Eagles once again with a final score of 23-25.
With the Aggies and Eagles at two games each the teams entered a tiebreaker match. Both A&T and NCCU rallied back and forth but the Eagles took the game 16-14. The matchup was both a school and sibling rivalry. Twins Darlene and Arlene Mitchell, past A&T players, met respectively as assistant coaches for NCCU and A&T.
Though a close game, the Aggies played well with a total of 19 blocks. Senior middle blocker Andrea Evans claimed eight of those blocks, which led to a career high record. Junior middle blocker Jeana Daniels and freshman right side hitter Aleena McDaniel had a combined total of 30 kills.
Head coach Hal Clifton was appreciative of the turnout of Aggies fans to support the volleyball team. He was not disappointed in the ladies’ third performance in the new gym.
“I was hoping that the third time would be the charm. Coming into the game, we had the right match ups, I felt like we were prepared. They were a little more experienced having players who played for a while and some upperclassmen,” said Clifton. “We made a couple of mistakes at really bad times tonight that kind of cost us the match but I’m not disappointed whatsoever” Clifton continued.
The Aggie volleyball team will play their next game at home against Bethune-Cookman on Friday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m.
–[email protected] and follow us on Twitter @ATRegister
- Kamilah J. Blackston Contributor