GREENSBORO, N.C. — Junior outside hitter Abby Vacha netted a team-high seven kills and redshirt sophomore Alyssa Pieh reached double-digit digs for a fourth straight match to highlight play for the North Carolina Central University volleyball team in a 3-0 road loss at North Carolina A&T State University to begin play in the Aggie/Phoenix Volley for Unity Tournament Friday night.
 
The Aggies moved over .500 at 4-3 on the season with the 25-22, 25-19, 25-23 victory.
 
Vacha hit .158 on the way to her seven kills. Pieh led the Eagles with both 15 digs and two aces. Sophomore setter Lauren Janok continued her strong play with a match-high 23 assists and four kills.
 
A&T had a dozen more kills than the Eagles over the first to sets to jump out to the 2-nil advantage. A couple of late kills by Courteney Pitt helped the Aggies close out a narrow 25-22 opening set. Pitt recorded three of her four kills in the first set.
 
In their strongest set, the Aggies hit .229 in the middle frame to win by six points. Senior Fatimah Shabazz tallied six kills on just seven attempts during that stanza.
 
A service ace by senior Celene Morris helped supply NCCU with a 14-8 lead midway through the third set. However, N.C. A&T followed with an ensuing 9-2 run to take the lead at 17-16 and force the Eagles to call a timeout. After the two rivals traded the next six points the Aggies scored ripped four straight kills to setup match point at 24-19. The Eagles kept fighting and responded with four straight points of their own to once again pull within one at 24-23, but a kill by senior Edie Brewer sealed the narrow win for the hosts.
 
Brewer, a two-time MEAC Player of the Year, finished with four kills, 17 assists, five digs, two block assists and one ace. Brewer was setting up an Aggie attack that featured a match-high 11 kills by senior Fatimah Shabazz and 10 kills by freshman Naiya Sawtelle.
 
Morris and senior Ammaarah Williams both chipped in five kills for the maroon and gray. Williams also participated in three blocks (one solo, two assists) to match Vacha with seven points.
 
NC Central concludes play in the Aggie/Phoenix Volley for Unity Tournament with a neutral-site match against UNC Asheville at Elon University on Saturday at 3 p.m.