Box Score
HAMPTON, Va., November 15, 2007 – North Carolina A&T saw its volleyball season come to an end on Friday, and with an era also came to an end.  

 Second-team all-conference performer Avignon Williams had 15 kills and three blocks. Junior middle blocker Aundia Gray added 18 kills and two blocks, but it wasn’t enough as Delaware State eliminated the Aggies from the 2007 MEAC Volleyball Tournament with a 3-1 win (27-30, 32-30, 30-23, 30-25) at Hampton University. The Aggies end the season 8-26 overall, their worse season in almost two decades.

 “We really fought through some adversity this year and had a nice run through conference play,’’ said N.C. A&T head coach Lyndsay Schmiedel. “We played a really tough schedule this season during a time when people had to get used to playing different roles. I thought we played well today, but we’ve just had trouble finishing off games.

 The Aggies came out prepared to finish off the Hornets. They jumped out to an 18-13 lead in the first game with outstanding showing on offense. The Hornets were able to get to within three, 28-25, late in the game. But an attack error by the Hornets and a Gray kill finished off the Hornets in Game 1 as the Aggies posted an impressive .432 hitting percentage.

 The Aggies had a chance to take a commanding 2-0 lead over the Hornets. With N.C. A&T leading 29-28 in the second game, sophomore Janae Mitchell committed a service error helping the Hornets tie the game. After an Aggies timeout, the Aggies regained game-point status on a Delaware State attack error. But a ball-handling error by Stacey Malone took away that advantage. Back-to-back kills by Delaware State’s Cassandra Joyner and Ayana Dyette helped the Hornets steal the game.

They used that momentum to finish off the Aggies in the final two games of the match. Joyner led the Hornets with 16 kills and 12 digs. Dyette added 12 kills and 13 digs, and Erica Tajchman also posted a double-double with 12 kills and 11 digs.

“The toughest part is saying goodbye to players who have meant so much for Aggie volleyball,’’ said Schmiedel. “Over their years here Krystal (Cooper) and Brenden (Chatman) helped us win so many matches. It would have been nice to make a run in the tournament for them.”

It will be a new beginning of sorts for the Aggies volleyball program next season. For the past three seasons, the main nucleus of the team has consisted of Chatman, Cooper, Arlene Mitchell, Darlene Mitchell and Lauren Walker. The Mitchell twins and Walker left the program last season, and Cooper and Chatman – the only four-year seniors on this year’s team will say farewell in 2007.

Schmiedel will return her two six footers in Williams and Gray. Williams led the team in blocks this season, while Gray had a breakout year with 2.78 kills and 0.76 blocks per game. But the outside hitter positions are need to be filled and Schmiedel will have to find a replacement at setter for Chatman, the school’s all-time assists leader with 4,203.