DURHAM, N.C. – Three Eagles reached double-digit kills with sophomore setter Vanila Pulu-Suliafu engineering the attack with 38 assists as the North Carolina Central University volleyball team picked up a wild 3-2 non-conference victory over Campbell University on Tuesday evening inside McDougald-McLendon Arena.
 
NCCU dropped two close first sets before mounting a stunning comeback for the program's first win over the Camels since 2007, ending a 16-match losing streak to Campbell.
 
The Eagles finished with a season-best .205 hitting percentage in the 20-25, 24-26, 25-15, 25-18, 17-15 triumph, while posted season-high totals of 56 kills, 50 assists, 66 digs, 11 aces and nine blocks.
 
Freshman Kamren Harper led all players with 18 kills for the victors. Classmate Tori Wilson and graduate student Autumn DeSantis both hit over .300 for the match in providing 13 and 11 kills, respectively. Freshman Emmie Modlin chipped in eight kills and Pulu-Suliafu netted four kills.
 
Those five players all recorded season-best individual kill totals.
 
Pulu-Suliafu picked up her second double-double of the season with 13 digs and ophomore libero Loren Johnson logged a match-high 24 digs while adding seven assists.
 
Modlin flirted with a double-double with eight kills and nine digs while she matched sophomore Azra Osmanovic with three aces apiece. Wilson finished with 18.5 points, chipping in two aces and five blocks (two solo).
 
The maroon and gray had a chance to win each of the first two sets. However, Campbell (2-7) used late runs to take the commanding 2-nil set advantage. Trailing 19-18 after back-to-back kills by Harper, the Camels closed the opening set on a 7-1 run. The second set was the closest stanza of the night with neither team leading by more than three points, but after Harper tied the score in the set for a ninth and final time at 24-all, Campbell answered with a kill and block to win again.
 
NCCU started the comeback with a dominating third set. The Eagles flew out to a 10-1 lead and cruised to the 10-point win to extend the match with Harper ripping four kills in the middle set.
 
After heating up to a .387 hitting percentage in the third set, NCCU kept up the pressure by hitting .324 in another set mostly controlled by the hosts. The Eagles served up four of its 11 aces in that seven-point set win.
 
NCCU remained in control in the fifth set, building up an eight-point lead to serve for match point at 14-6. However, Campbell won the next eight points in riveting fashion, including seven straight points on the service rotation of junior libero Claranne Fechter to knot the score at 14-14. The Camels then survived one more NCCU match point before a kill by Wilson setup a 10th match point, and this time Osmanovic had the answer with NCCU's 11th ace.
 
Freshman Gwen Wolkow led Campbell with 17 points, including team-best totals of 15 kills and four block assists. Fechter finished with 19 digs, eight assists and two aces.
 
NC Central (1-6) will next play three matches in the Campbell Invitational on Friday-Saturday, Sept. 16-17.