The North Carolina A&T volleyball team ran into a near-flawless Norfolk State hitting attack in sets two and three Friday night as the Spartans defeated the Aggies 3-1 (24-26, 25-12, 25-11, 25-22) at Corbett Sports Center.

Junior hitter Janae Mitchell led the Aggies with her second career double as she recorded 11 kills and 10 digs. Senior middle Avignon Williams added seven kills, five blocks and had a .385 hitting percentage. The Spartans were led by Breanna Allums’ 18 kills and 11 digs. Allums also had a .386 hitting percentage. Shardonay Blueford added nine kills, 13 digs and three blocks.

The Spartans recorded 55 kills for the match. Despite the Spartans effective offense, the Aggies actually came away from the first set with momentum.

The Aggies faced set point, trailing 24-19 in the first. An Allums attack error cut the lead to four before Mitchell tapped a kill in-between the Spartans defense and then followed that with a thunderous kill to move the Aggies to within two at 24-22. Three straight Norfolk State errors gave the Aggies the lead. Mitchell completed the Aggies impressive 7-0 run to end the set with an ace that gave the Aggies a one set lead.

The Spartans, who had .000 hitting percentage in the first set, didn’t miss too often over the next two sets. The Spartans made just five errors in the second and third sets, and had a combined .481 hitting percentage in those sets to win easily.

They cooled off in the fourth set as a Williams block gave the Aggies a 21-20 lead in the fourth. The Spartans would score the next three points before freshman Aggies setter Jordan Gray set up junior hitter Tiffany Mellette for a crushing kill to cut the Spartans lead to one, 23-22.

An Aggies attack error and a Blueford kill ended the Aggies hope of forcing a fifth game. The Aggies dropped to 3-19 overall and 0-4 in the conference. The Aggies must get hot quickly if they want to earn entry into the MEAC Tournament. The top four teams from each MEAC division advance to the tournament. The Aggies are in fifth place in the MEAC South and trail S.C. State (2-2) by two matches with four to play.

The Aggies will try to take play catch-up when they face S.C. State Sunday at noon in Orangeburg, S.C.