Box Score
GREENSBORO, November 13, 2007 – The North Carolina A&T volleyball team celebrated Senior Day on Saturday, but Tuesday night’s match against Winston-Salem State was actually Brenden Chatman, Krystal Cooper, Kaycee Anderson and Nyra Taborn’s final match at Corbett Sports Center and they acted like it.

Cooper led the Aggies with 12 kills and eight digs and Anderson added 10 kills and five digs to lead the Aggies to a 3-0 win (30-20, 13, 23) over the Rams in the final regular-season match of the season for N.C. A&T. Chatman, the Aggies all-time assist leader, had 36 assists and Taborn added four kills as the Aggies improved to 8-25 on the season.  

“We needed this going into the tournament,’’ said N.C. A&T head volleyball coach Lyndsay Schmiedel. “We believe if we come out and play the way we are capable of playing, we can a run in the tournament.”

The Aggies will leave Wednesday for Hampton, Va., to participate in the MEAC Volleyball Tournament on November 16 and 17. The Aggies will go in as the MEAC South’s No. 2 seed with their 5-3 conference mark. Their first round opponent will be the MEAC North third seed Delaware State. With the elimination of the MEAC Roundup, it will be the Aggies first meeting with the Hornets.

“All of those northern teams are tough,’’ said Schmiedel. “Seeding really doesn’t mean that much because everyone is so good. We’re just going to have to go up there and play our very best or we will be back here early.”

The north consists of Maryland-Eastern Shore, which is 22-3 overall and 10-0 in the conference. The Hawks are also on a 20-match winning streak. The second seed from the north is Morgan State. The Bears eliminated the Aggies last season and hold a 7-3 conference record this season. The Hornets are also 7-3 in the conference. The south isn’t all that bad either because it consists of seven-time MEAC Champion Florida A&M.

The Aggies match with the Rams on Tuesday didn’t count in the MEAC standings because Winston-Salem State is in Division I transition. But the Aggies saw the match as important heading into the tournament.

The Aggies made quick work of the Rams in the first two games, but the Rams challenged the Aggies in the third game. The Rams fought back to cut the Aggies lead to 22-20 on an Annika Barnwell kill. After Taborn attack error moved the Rams back to within two at 24-22, the Aggies went on a 3-0 run capped off by a Chatman service ace to re-take control of the game.

Anderson, who has had double figure kills in three straight matches, ended the game with thunderous kill.