EAST GREENSBORO – North Carolina A&T made volleyball history Friday night.

The Aggies won their seventh straight match to set a school record as they defeated Maryland Eastern Shore in five (24-26, 25-19, 20-25, 25-20, 15-12) at Moore Gymnasium in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) action.

“I thought we played a really good match all the way through tonight,” said N.C. A&T coach Hal Clifton.  “We knew that the Shore would be aggressive and they were throughout the match, but I felt like our team steadied and stayed calm.  We found a nice rhythm coming in and we were able to move the ball around quite a bit. 

Junior setter/right side Edie Brewer recorded her sixth triple-double with 12 kills, a team-high 26 assists and 13 digs with two service aces while hitting .290.  Sophomore right side hitter Fatimah Shabazz recorded a career-high 17 kills with a .297 hitting percentage, three blocks (two solos).

“I thought Fatimah played a really solid match,” Clifton said.  “She took some really smart swings and moved the ball around with the ability to score from both ends.  But she really made herself present as well with some blocking, especially the stuff block late in the fifth set that was a critical turning point for us.”

In the final stanza, neither team could take a lead of more than a point until the Aggies scored four consecutive points to take a four-point lead, 10-6. The run included a Brewer kill and a solo block from Shabazz.

MDES got to within three, 11-8, but a Courteney Pitt kill and a Brewer kill increased the lead to five, 13-8.  The Hawks (8-14, 3-4 MEAC) scored the next three points to cut the lead to two, 13-11, but freshman setter Addy Warfield caught the defense sleeping and attacked instead of setting the ball for a kill to give the Aggies a 14-11 lead.  After a Hawks kill to cut the lead to 14-12, Brewer ended the match with a kill to give the Aggies (9-12, 7-0 MEAC) another win. 

“Going into the fifth set, we felt like we had a little bit of an edge with some of their rotations and luckily for us, it went our way. It was a really good win for the Aggies,” said Clifton.

 North Carolina A&T lost a heartbreaker in the first set. The Aggies led 19-18, but MDES scored the next four points to take a three-point lead. N.C. A&T fought back with two kills from Brewer and a Shabazz kill to tie the set at 24. However, the Hawks scored the final two points on a kill and an Aggies attack error to take a one-match lead.

“Dropping that first set 26-24 in the first set was a tough one to swallow, but we've done that a lot this year, so we were able to maintain our composure,” said Clifton. 

In the second stanza, The Aggies took command early. They led 12-6 before increasing that lead to eight, 22-14. after three Shabazz kills, two Mallory Porcher kills and two Brewer kills.  MDES did cut the lead to four points, 23-19, but a Pitt kill and a bad set by the Hawks evened the match.

The Hawks grabbed a 22-16 lead in the third. But back-to-back MDES errors and a Christa Wilson kill cut the lead to three points, 22-19.  The Hawks scored the next two points to put themselves in a position to take a 2-1 lead. Shabazz halted those plans with a kill, but a kill from Ilina Spasova gave the Hawks the set.

The Aggies forced a fifth set by jumping out to an early lead again over the Hawks. They led 12-6 before MDES cut the lead to 14-11. N.C. A&T reclaimed control after kills from Macenzie Richards, Shabazz and Tasmyn Fahey to take a 21-15 lead. MDES cut the lead to 23-20 forcing an Aggie timeout.  After the timeout, a Porcher kill and an MDES attack error gave N.C. A&T the set.

“We got our middles more involved tonight than we have in the past, which I think helped balance us out and to hold their defense.  I felt like overall, we competed very well,” said Clifton.

Porcher, a middle hitter, recorded a career-high 10 kills with a .444 hitting percentage and added two blocks. Sophomore libero Andrea Laboy-Rivera recorded a match-high 21 digs and four assists, while Warfield added 25 assists and five digs. 

Pitt added eight kills and eight digs and Wilson had six kills, seven digs and three blocks. Sophomore middle hitter Shaylynn Hall added three kills and a team-high four blocks.

The Hawks were led by Alexis Lee and Tatjana Trifkovic with 15 kills each.

The Aggies finish the two-match homestand with Delaware State (8-14, 3-4 MEAC) Sunday at 1 p.m. at Moore Gymnasium.