Box Score | Updated Bracket | Championship Central


NORFOLK, Va., April 2, 2021 – North Carolina A&T State fended off Delaware State to defeat the Hornets 3-2 (28-26, 25-22, 34-26, 22-25, 15-13) in the semifinals of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Volleyball Championship on Saturday in Echols Hall.
 
The Southern Division top-seeded Aggies (10-1) advanced to Saturday’s championship final, where they will face either Coppin State or North Carolina Central at 6 p.m. in a match televised live on ESPNU.
 
Edie Brewer, the MEAC Player of the Year, led the way with her first triple-double of the season – notching 30 assists, 17 kills and 15 digs – hitting .293 for the match. Fatimah Shabazz had a match-high 20 kills and Shaylynn Hall added 10 kills.
 
Andrea Laboy-Rivera led four Aggies with double-digit digs, racking up 25.
 
The Aggies and Hornets played a tightly contested first set, and the frame went beyond the 25 points necessary before North Carolina A&T State eventually took the set 28-26 after Brewer and Hall paired on a block.
 
The second set was tight as well, but NCAT came away with that one too, going up 2-0 after a Brewer kill gave the Aggies the 25-22 win.
 
In fact, the Aggies appeared to have all the momentum, jumping out to a 7-2 lead to open the third set. But the Hornets went on a 7-2 run of their own, and all told, the third set saw 24 ties – the latest being 34-34 on a Brewer kill.
 
But Sydney Lewis notched a kill on the next rally, and Lewis and Alayna Lacy paired on a block to give the Hornets the set 36-34 and cut the Aggies’ match lead to 2-1.
 
Delaware State rode that momentum to an 8-3 lead to open the fourth set, and the Hornets even built a lead of as much as five in the latter portions of the set, going up 18-13 on an Erika Lindqvist kill. NCAT cut the lead to two, 22-20, after a Brewer service ace, but the Hornets held on and took the set 25-22 after a Valeria Otero kill.
 
Delaware State also scored the first five points of the fifth set, though the Aggies went on a 9-3 run to take a 9-8 lead after Shabazz and Mallory Porcher paired on a block. The Hornets briefly held a 12-11 lead after a Kristi Gomez kill, but the Aggies scored four of the last five points to clinch the set and the match.
 
Hall slammed a kill to send the Aggies to the final.
 
Otero and Gomez each had double-doubles for the Hornets (11-5); Otero had 18 kills and 14 digs, while Gomez chipped in 11 kills and 12 digs.