DURHAM, N.C. – The senior duo of Ammaarah Williams and Arlanda Faulkner combined for 41.5 points to lead the North Carolina Central University volleyball team to a dramatic 3-2 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) home win over league-front runner Delaware State University on Friday evening inside the LeRoy T. Walker Complex.
 
Williams and Faulkner both hit over .300 for the match as the Eagles finished with a .256 team hitting percentage in the epic 19-25, 25-18, 32-34, 25-21, 15-10 triumph.
 
NCCU has won three of its last four matches to improve to 7-12 overall and 6-4 in the conference. The Hornets, who had won 16 straight matches at one point this season, were handed just their third loss of the season as Delaware State slipped to 20-3 on the campaign and 8-2 in the MEAC.
 
Williams led all players with 22 points. She paced the Eagles with 19 kills, 12 digs and four blocks (two solo). Faulkner had a team-best .375 hitting percentage on her way to 18 kills.
 
The Hornets, who fell out of sole possession of first place in the conference standings with the loss, started strong and took the first set by six points by hitting .387 in that frame. The Eagles responded by hitting .452 in the second set to level the match with a seven-point win, including seven kills by Faulkner.
 
NCCU looked poised to pull away in the third set, constructing a 24-16 lead. However, DSU responded with eight straight points to extend the set on junior Malgorzata Andersohn's service rotation. The Eagles had a dozen chances at set point in the middle game, but the Hornets won the point all 12 times and then they strung together the final three points to claim the lengthy 34-32 set. DSU senior Kristi Gomez ripped eight of her match-high 20 kills in that victorious set.
 
Just like the second set, the Eagles had a quick response in the fourth set to once again even the score. NCCU never trailed in either of those sets. Williams netted five kills in four-point, fourth-set victory.
 
Williams was involved in all three of NCCU's blocks in the fifth set as the Eagles constructed a narrow lead in the late stages of the race to 15 points. Senior McKayla Young then recorded an overpass kill before a couple of hitting errors by the Hornets sealed the maroon and gray 15-10 victory.
 
NCCU remained undefeated in five set matches in league play, winning all three conference clashes that have gone the full distance.
 
Sophomore setter Lauren Janok setup NCCU's hot-hitting attack with 45 assists. Sophomore Jada Buckhanon matched Williams with 12 digs and redshirt freshman Maria Almeida chipped in 11 digs. Junior Abby Vacha tallied seven kills and Young finished with six kills.
 
Andersohn finished with 39 assists and 11 digs for the visitors. Freshman Alondra Maldonado provided 16 kills.
 
NC Central next hosts University of Maryland Eastern Shore in the Walker Complex on Sunday at 1 p.m.