DAVIDSON, N.C. – North Carolina A&T looked ready to win its first match of the Wildcat Classic hosted by Davidson University at John M. Belk Arena on Saturday.
Leading 2-1 in the match, the Aggies were in an excellent position to win the fourth set before the Lindenwood Lions put together a run at the end of the fourth set and won the fifth and deciding set in a five-set victory over the Aggies (17-25, 25-20, 23-25, 25-19, 15-12).
The Aggies dropped to 3-4 after going 0-3 at the Wildcat Classic. But A&T sophomore Naiya Sawtelle (Stuart, Fla.) did win all-tournament honors after posting 42 kills, 12 service aces, 17 digs and 4.5 blocks. On Saturday, Sawtelle tied a career-high with 25 kills and set a career-high eight service aces. The eight service aces are tied for the fourth most in school history in a match. She also added four blocks and eight digs.
But Sawtelle’s big night wasn’t quite enough. In the fourth set, Sawtelle scored on a kill to bring the Aggies to within four, 22-18. The Lions then scored before Mallory Porcher retaliated with a kill. But Lions used a kill and an Aggies attack error to force a fifth set.
In the final set, Lindenwood took a 13-9 lead, But the Aggies kept fighting, scoring on a service error and an ace from Sawtelle. But Sawtelle committed a service error on her next serve to give the Lions set and match point. Porcher kept the Aggies in it with a kill before her service error secured the win for the Lions.
“We lost in five today, which was completely disappointing,” said A&T coach Hal Clifton. “At times, we played some really solid volleyball. We just didn’t do it long enough. We didn’t handle first contacts very consistently, either. The bright side is that we are young, and some of these mistakes are within our check to fix.”
Clifton and his group did come out firing. They took a 16-9 lead in the first set. The Lions did get within five at 22-17, but two Sawtelle kills, and a block assist from Sawtelle and Porcher gave the Aggies the first set.
The Lions took the second set and had a 13-10 lead in the third before the Aggies ran off five straight points to take a 15-13 advantage as Sawtelle posted three aces during the spurt. The Lions then outscored the Aggies 5-1 to go ahead 18-16. After the Aggies tied the set at 18 on two Lion errors, the two teams went back-and-forth until A&T called a timeout after the Lions took a 22-21 lead.
A&T came out of the timeout and outscored the Lions 4-1, aided by kills from Porcher, Sawtelle and Liselotte Spoormakersto win the set before the Lions rally to win the final two sets.
Madilyn Dement led the Lions with 17 kills, and Abby VanBuskirk posted 51assists. Nyah finished with 11 kills and 18 digs.
Chiara Naples (Saint-Raphael, France) led A&T with 25 assists and added eight digs. hannah howell (St. Louis Park, Minn.) added nine kills and 12 digs. Morgan Allen (Charlotte, NC) led the Aggies with 20 digs, and Addy Warfield (Winter Springs, Fla.) added 24 assists. Porcher added nine kills and five blocks, with one solo.
ncataggies.com
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism