Sept. 26, 2009

Final Stats

DURHAM, N.C. - Outside hitters Belinda Behncke-Biney, Avaniki Campbell and Shantel Moore were named to the All-Tournament Team after leading the Eagles to a second place finish in the NCCU Volleyball Tournament, where they went 3-1. The Eagles concluded the final day of action with a 3-0 sweep of rival North Carolina A&T before falling to tournament champion Delaware State, 3-0, in the final match of the day.

NCCU earned bragging rights, riding a .263 hitting percentage to a 3-0 sweep of the Aggies in their first match of the day. The Eagles' offense fired 38 kills on 95 total attacks with 32 assists. Defensively, NCCU outnumbered North Carolina A&T in both digs and blocks with 31 and 10, respectively.

Behncke-Biney was one of three Eagles to hit above .300 in the match with 15 kills and a .333 hitting percentage. Moore added 13 kills with a .308 hitting percentage, followed by Campbell with five kills off a .308 hitting percentage. On defense, the Eagles were anchored by Behncke-Biney with eight digs, while Sashalee Wallen led the Eagles' blocking game with five blocks.

The Eagle defense held the Aggies to a .160 hitting percentage with 38 kills. Janae Mitchell led the Aggies on offense with 15 kills and a .300 hitting percentage. Bridget McCaskill and Amber Inman recorded seven digs to lead the Aggie defense.

NCCU took a 6-1 lead to open the first set before the Aggies scored three straight points to cut the lead to two. The Aggies managed to pull within one at 18-17 to force a NCCU timeout. Out of the timeout, the Aggies tied the score at 18 off an attack error, but the Eagles quickly answered back. North Carolina A&T tied the score once against at 20-20 and took their first lead of the set at 21-20 off an NCCU error.

A kill by Moore tied the score at 21, but the Aggies refused to give up. They jumped ahead to take a two-point lead with back-to-back points for a 23-21 score. An Aggie error cut the deficit to one, 23-22. North Carolina A&T scored to put them one point away from the set, but Behncke-Biney responded with a kill to put the Eagles back within one. Courtney Williams and Wallen hammered the ball back down for a block to tie the score at 24. A dig by Moore set up a kill by Behncke-Biney to put the Eagles in control. The Aggies gave the Eagles a 26-24 win with a ball handling error to close the set.

In the second set, the Aggies continued their intensity from the first set, jumping out to a 2-1 lead before a kill by Moore earned the first tie of the set at 2-2. The Aggies took the lead from the first serve and stayed in control until an attack error gave the Eagles their first lead of the set. Both teams tossed around the lead as it continued to go back and forth. NCCU finally took control at 10-10 and never looked back, not allowing the Aggies the opportunity to jump in front. A kill by Williams closed the set at 25-17.

The third set was much like the second set with several lead changes. The Eagles jumped out in front first but the Aggies managed to stay within striking distance. A 4-0 run by the Aggies put North Carolina A&T on top, 11-12, which forced a timeout by NCCU. Out of the timeout, the Eagles scored four straight points to take a 15-12 lead, which forced the Aggies to call a timeout. NCCU decided to finish the match and take away the victory, where they rode a 10-7 run to the finish line with a 25-19 win that claimed the match.

North Carolina A&T's winless struggles continued as they stood at 0-16 on the season, still searching for their first victory. NCCU improved their advantage in the series to 4-2 and improved their record to 5-13 on the season with another match on the horizon.

The Eagles returned to face Delaware State in the final match of the tournament with both teams standing undefeated in tournament play. Each team felt the pressure to be crowned the champions of the NCCU Volleyball Tournament. Unfortunately for the Eagles, the Hornets' defense was too much, holding the Eagles to a .076 hitting percentage with 26 kills and 17 errors.

Shantel Moore led the Eagles on offense with a match-high 16 kills, which earned her a new career-high. She matched her hitting percentage from the previous match, hitting .308 with only four errors. Also contributing on offense for the Eagles was Belinda Behncke-Biney with nine kills.

Staying with their consistent pattern, the Eagles dominated on the net, outnumbering the Hornets in the block column with six total blocks. Avaniki Campbell anchored the Eagles' blocking game once again with five blocks, three which were assisted. Rachel Lloyd led in digs with nine, while Raven King collected eight.

Delaware State hit .227 with 44 kills and only 17 errors. Cassandra Joyner led the Hornets on offense, hitting .400 with 13 kills and only one error. She was followed by Erica Tajchman with 11 kills and four errors. Defensively, three Hornets recorded double-digit digs. Sonja Banicevic and Sarah Wheatcroft had a match-high 15 digs, while Ashley Herman added 13. As a team, the Hornets had 41 assists, 61 digs and four total blocks.

The Hornets were crowned the NCCU Volleyball Tournament Champions after defeating the Eagles by scores of 25-14, 25-22 and 25-19. Martina Ferrari was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament, while Joyner was named to the All-Tournament Team.

Delaware State took a 1-0 advantage in the series against NCCU and improved to an even 9-9 on the season. The Eagles dropped to 5-14 on the season

For more information on NCCU volleyball, visit the official website of NCCU Athletics at www.NCCUEaglePride.com.