GREENSBORO, N.C. – North Carolina A&T earned its second straight win over the Norfolk State volleyball team on Friday afternoon, 3-0 at Moore Gymnasium, during the opening week of MEAC play.
 
The Aggies won 25-21, 25-11 and 25-17 after also defeating the Spartans on Thursday by a 3-0 score. They hit .276 and piled up 11 service aces on the way to the victory on Friday.
 
NSU senior Rachel Williams finished with five kills and six digs to lead the way for NSU, which fell to 1-5 overall and 0-2 in the league. Junior Heliceliz Rivera added 11 assists, six digs, four kills and three blocks.
 
The Spartans had a slight edge in blocks for the match, 6-5. Senior Jannel Ezeagwu had a hand in five blocks on the day.
 
They made the first set interesting after it looked like A&T (2-1, 2-0 MEAC) would pull away for an easy win. The Aggies were up by seven at 14-7 when, out of a timeout, NSU won seven of the next eight points. The Spartans had three blocks during that time as they closed the gap to just one, 15-14.
 
The teams essentially went point-for-point until a kill from freshman Paola Matos and a block from Ezeagwu again cut the Aggie lead to just one, 22-21. Two kills and a block after that, however, gave A&T the early lead in the match.
 
The Aggies then scored 10 straight points starting with the second serve of the second set. They pushed the lead to double digits after that and led by at least 10 for all but one time the rest of the second stanza.
 
Rivera had a kill and a block on back-to-back plays to give NSU an 8-6 lead in the third set. A&T responded by scoring six of the next seven points and nine of the next 12 for a 15-11 lead. The Aggies later scored four in a row to keep NSU at arm's length the rest of the match.
 
Matos had four kills and five digs, and junior Nicole Rodriguez led the Spartans with eight digs.
 
A&T limited NSU to a .051 attack percentage. Fatimah Shabazz (13 kills, .522 attack percentage) and Eddie Brewer (10 kills, .364 attack percentage, 21 assists, seven digs, four aces) paced the Aggies.
 
NSU will head to UNC Wilmington next Tuesday for a non-conference match before returning home to host South Carolina State next Thursday and Friday at Joseph Echols Hall.