EAST GREENSBORO – North Carolina A&T finished the regular season with a 3-0 (25-11,20,12) win over Florida A&M Sunday at Moore Gymnasium. The Aggies finish the regular season on a four-match winning streak that included three straight sweeps.

N.C. A&T closes out the regular season with a 15-13 mark and a 13-1 record in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). The Aggies will head into the annual MEAC Volleyball Championship Tournament hosted by Howard University at Burr Gymnasium as the MEAC Southern Division champions and the top seed out of the south.

The Aggies will face Maryland Eastern Shore 5 p.m., Friday, Nov. 22 in a first-round match at Burr. The winner of their match will play the winner of the Bethune-Cookman/Morgan State contests.

“Our focus was to get back into the winning column after the Howard loss,” N.C. A&T coach Hal Clifton said.  “We didn't talk about a lot of wins or losses. We talked about getting better and what we need to be more consistent to play better volleyball.”

Junior setter Edie Brewer finished off a terrific regular season by stuffing the stat sheet with a team-high 15 assists, a match-high four service aces, eight digs, three blocks and four kills.

“She's the heart and soul of our team with what she can do on the court,” Clifton said about Brewer.  “She's hard to defend because she can hit the ball, she can see the open court. She hits from the left side and she hits from the right side. I think she puts a lot of pressure on defenses with her attacking.”

 The Aggies other setter, freshman Addy Warfield, added 10 assists and six digs.

Sophomore libero Andrea Laboy-Rivera recorded a match-high 14 digs and added seven assists, while sophomore right side hitter Fatimah Shabazz recorded a match-high seven kills, three blocks and three digs with a .538 hitting percentage.

“Fatimah has really come along well at the net this year,” Clifton said.  “Not just from a defensive physical standpoint of blocking, but offensively, she really been able to work the ball around really well.”

Senior outside hitter Christa Wilson connected on 5 of 6 attempts for a .833 hitting percentage. Junior outside hitter Courteney Pitt added six kills and three digs with a .364 hitting percentage.

The Aggies got off to a hot start in the first set scoring the first nine points that included three kills from Wilson, back-to-back Brewer service aces, a Shabazz kill and a Hall kill.  The Aggies eventually maintained a lopsided 21-4 advantage.

FAMU (10-19, 7-7 MEAC) did go on a 6-0 to make it 21-10 but a Brewer kill halted their momentum. The Aggies the next point on a Rattlers attack error to take a 23-10 lead. The Aggies put the Rattlers away with a block assist from Hall and Shabazz. Hall and Shabazz had three blocks apiece in the first set.

N.C. A&T had a tougher time with the Rattlers in the second set. The Aggies trailed 12-11 before Malory Porcher tied the set at 12 with a kill. The Aggies scored two more points on a Warfield service ace and a Pitt kill to force a FAMU timeout.

After the timeout, FAMU scored the next three points to take the lead at 15-14. The Aggies took over from there. A FAMU service error tied the match before the Rattlers followed that with an attack error to give the Aggies the lead. Back-to-back block assists from Porcher and Brewer put the Aggies ahead 18-15 and a Brewer kill increased the Aggies lead to four.

The Rattlers did get to within two again at 22-20 but a Rattlers attack error, a Shabazz kill and a Brewer ace gave the Aggies a 2-0 match lead.

Like the first set, the Aggies jumped out to a big lead in the third at 12-4. The Rattlers fought back and got to within four at 15-11. N.C. A&T caught fire from there. The Aggies outscored the Rattlers 10-1 the rest of the way. They were led by back-to-back kills Leila Haynesworth kills, a Kaiyah Haley service ace and two Arianna Mackey kills.

The Rattlers were led by Alexis Gosha with seven kills.