North Carolina A&T, Stony Brook Advance in 2025 CAA Volleyball Championships
Dylan Smith
CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL | DAY ONE VIDEO RECAP
TOWSON, Md. – North Carolina A&T and Stony Brook become the first fifth and sixth seeds to advance to the semifinals of the CAA Volleyball Championship in the same season since 2019, following their respective wins on Thursday.
The Aggies will face top-seeded Hofstra at 3 p.m. on Friday, while the Seawolves will square off with No. 2 seed Campbell at 6 p.m. Both matches will be streamed on FloCollege.
No. 5 North Carolina A&T 3, No. 4 Charleston 0
BOX SCORE | HIGHLIGHTS | PHOTO GALLERY
Nine total service aces and double-digit kills from
Tyne Ross and
Zariah Winton propelled No. 5 seed North Carolina A&T (15-11) into its first CAA Semifinals with a 3-0 win over No. 4 seed Charleston (18-10).
Sophomore outside hitter Ross unloaded a match-high 15 kills to go with nine digs in the win. Getting her first taste of postseason action, freshman Winton notched three of the team’s nine aces while slamming down 12 kills of her own. The Aggies’
Leonor Polezzi set up 38 kills, posting a .369 success rate at the front line.
N.C. A&T and Charleston exchanged blows to open the match, going nearly point-for-point on several diving saves to work a 6-6 tie. The Cougars broke through to take a four-point lead, 11-7, capitalizing on a couple of hitting miscues by the Aggies. It would be the largest lead of the set as A&T settled in and utilized back-to-back service aces from
Luca Radnai to knot the set at 13 apiece. The sophomore middle blocker finished with four aces in total. Neither team was able to take a lead larger than two until the Aggies closed out the set with consecutive points for a 25-22 win.
North Carolina A&T jumped out to a 5-0 lead to open the second set, capped off by back-to-back slams from Winton that forced a Cougar timeout. Charleston responded with four consecutive points, stuffing a pair of A&T attacks at the net to make it 6-4. The Aggies were able to keep the Cougars at bay for the remainder of the set as Ross notched eight kills in the frame alone. The tournament’s fifth seed rattled off five straight points to close the set and earn a 25-17 victory.
Charleston jumped out to an 8-4 lead following a kill from
Izzy Marinelli that forced an A&T timeout. The Aggies rallied to score four straight points, with two kills coming from
Nicole Ellis to help her team take a 12-11 lead. The back-and-forth battle continued until a three-point swing gave A&T a 20-17 edge. Charleston forced extras as
Caroline Noonan and
Lauren Dow denied set point twice with their respective kills to tie the set at 24. A&T’s Ross, the CAA’s kills leader, finished off the match with an emphatic kill to advance to the semifinals for the first time since joining the CAA with a 27-25 set win.
The Cougars’ Marinelli and Noonan registered 11 and 10 kills apiece, respectively. Freshman
Jumana Martin dug out a match-high 18 balls, while sophomore
Cole Crews also recorded double-digit digs with 10.
No. 6 Stony Brook 3, No. 3 Towson 1
BOX SCORE | HIGHLIGHTS | PHOTO GALLERY
Kali Moore’s 25-kill, 14-dig performance once again helped No. 6 Stony Brook (12-14) take down No. 3 Towson (21-7) for the third time inside SECU Arena this season with a four-set victory.
The Seawolves’ kills leader posted a new season high with her 25 slams, swinging at a .328 clip for the match. Moore went errorless on 26 receptions on the backline en route to her 14th double-double of the season.
Quinn Anderson and
Ayanna Pierre Louis also reached double figures with 13 and 10 kills apiece, respectively.
Madison Cigna and
Zayda Fuertez grinded out a combined 31 digs in the back court for the Seawolves.
Stony Brook and Towson exchanged a pair of three-point spurts to open the match to deadlock the score at six. The two teams traded blows until a 5-1 run, spotlighted by a trio of Tigers’ errors and two kills by Moore, put the Seawolves ahead, 15-11. Stony Brook’s leading attacker spiked five of her first seven attempts into the floor before finishing with seven kills in the opening set. The tournament’s sixth seed staved off the Tigers, who scored on four straight set points, to capture the first frame, 25-23.
The Seawolves came flying out of the gate with a 4-0 lead to start the second set, seeing
Ava Zamora involved in all of the scoring plays with three assists and a service ace. Towson slowly worked its way back into the frame before taking a 21-18 advantage. Stony Brook settled down after taking a timeout and rattled off a 6-1 run, ending the set with
Mopelola Ojo getting up at the net and earning three straight block assists to capture the second set, 25-23. Ojo finished with seven stuffs in the quarterfinal match.
Towson’s
Ella Sanders fired off three straight kills to cap off a 5-2 spurt to begin the third set. The redshirt sophomore was instrumental in getting the Tigers’ lead up to five, 10-5, after slamming down her fifth of six kills in the set alone. The Seawolves worked their deficit down to as few as two before Towson took a five-point edge, 19-14, following a kill from
Sarah Callender. The Tigers’
Erin Brothers and
Taylor Pagan closed out the set with three straight points to earn a 25-19 win.
The two squads traded points until an Alexa Mork service ace gave Towson an 8-6 advantage. Shortly after, the Seawolves unloaded a 6-0 run with a service ace from Pierre Louis and a thundering kill from Anderson to finish off the scoring spree and force a Tigers’ timeout. Stony Brook continued to expand its lead, watching it balloon to four, 19-15, after another Anderson slam. Towson did not go down quietly as four different players threw down punishing kills to pull the Tigers to within one, 22-21. Stony Brook proved to be too much and secured the 25-22 win in the fourth set.
Libero
Sydney Stewart flew all around the back court with a match-best 26 digs, also posting eight assists along the way. Four Tigers posted double-digit kills, with Sanders posting a team-high 16 kills. Pagan notched 13 kills of her own, while Callender posted an 11-kill, 18-dig double-double.
Maisie Jesse also had 30 assists and 15 digs in the setback.
2025 CAA Volleyball Championship
Thursday, Nov. 20
G1: No. 5 North Carolina A&T 3, No. 4 Charleston 0
G2: No. 6 Stony Brook 3, No. 3 Towson 1
Friday, Nov. 21
G3: No. 5 North Carolina A&T vs. No. 1 Hofstra 3 p.m.
G4: No. 6 Stony Brook vs. No. 2 Campbell 6 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 22
G5: Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4 7 p.m.
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