SAVANNAH, Georgia – Senior Ashley McCarthy (Elmont, New York) and redshirt junior Denni Johnson (Ashburn, Virginia) combined for 22 of the teams 38 kills as the North Carolina Central University volleyball team collected its first win of the season with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-22) sweep over the Savannah State Tigers on Friday, Oct. 10, in Savannah, Georgia.

McCarthy led the way offensively for the Eagles for the second straight contest, finishing with a game-best 12 kills (.474) while Johnson trailed adding 10 kills and two service aces.

The win also marked first-year head coach Nicki Holmes' first victory at the helm.

During the first set SSU pulled out to an early 6-3 lead before two McCarthy kills and a kill from rookie Gabrielle Leclerc (Narragansett, Rhode Island) knotted the score at six.

The Tigers answered with a 5-2 run of their own putting them back on top 11-8.

After back-and-forth scoring, Johnson's pair of service aces gave the Eagles the 13-12 advantage, for their first lead of the set.  

NCCU kept the momentum on its side for the remainder of the first game, pulling away with the 25-21 victory.

SSU scored first again during the second set taking another quick 3-1 lead. The Eagles fought back to regain their advantage, going up by as many as eight points at 21-13 before collecting the 25-19 second-set win and 2-0 match lead.

The third set saw six ties and four lead changes as the Tigers fought pushed a fourth set on their home floor.

With SSU in the lead, 22-21, back-to-back Tiger errors gave NCCU the 23-22 lead forcing and SSU timeout.

Out of the timeout the Tigers continued to struggle offensively forcing two additional turnovers, as the Eagles sealed the 25-23 victory.

Senior Alice Genna (Rome, Italy) and rookie Paige Phillips (Birmingham, Alabama) shared time at the setter position, dishing a combined 30 assists with 19 and 11 respectively.

Defensively, sophomore Kelsey Murphy (Rancho Cucamonga, California) earned a game-best 11 digs leading NCCU.

Justice Dilworth led the Tigers with 12 kills and 11 digs, while Caitlynn Masoe circulated 26 helpers.

The Eagles return to action on Sunday, Oct. 13 as NCCU wraps up 2014 road action in Orangeburg, South Carolina, facing the South Carolina State Bulldogs at 2 p.m.