ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Sophomore Emmie Modlin supplied career-high totals of 19 kills and 18 assists for her first double-double of the season, highlighting play for the North Carolina Central University volleyball team in a 3-2 road loss to host UNC Asheville in the Woof Woof Invitational on Saturday afternoon.
 
Modlin was just three digs shy of NCCU's second triple-double of the program's modern era. Classmate Kamren Harper matched Modlin with 19 kills. The sophomore duo has each set new career-best kills totals in back-to-back matches to start their second seasons with the Eagles.
 
Freshman Amarah Johnson had a breakout match for the maroon and gray with 15 kills. NCCU hit .247 for the match with Modlin attacking at a .500 clip and Johnson following closely behind with a .480 hitting percentage. Harper just missed as second consecutive double-double to start the campaign with nine digs.
 
The Eagles trailed for most of first set before rallying to take a late 23-22 lead. However, Asheville scored the next three points on a pair of kills and an ace to squeak out the opening frame. The two-point set marked the fifth straight set that NCCU has played that was decided by just two points as the Eagles lost another narrow 3-2 match to Alabama A&M University a day earlier.
 
NCCU leveled the score with a three-point win the in second set. The Eagles hit .273 in that stanza, including a kill on set-point by graduate student Jeslyn Spencer.
 
The Bulldogs regained the lead by taking another close set in the third. The score was tied as late as 19-19 on a kill by Modlin, but like the first set, UNCA scored the final three points to secure the set triumph. Junior Matilde Teixeira had two late kills to help the hosts stay in front.
 
Teixeira led the victors with 13 kills and she completed a double-double with 11 digs.
 
The Eagles looked in control of most of the fourth set, leading by as many five points late before the Bulldogs used a 7-2 run to tie the set at 23-23 before two straight Asheville errors extended the match for NCCU.
 
The Bulldogs grabbed an early edge in the decisive race to 15 points in the fifth set and UNCA executed better at the service game late to finish off the two-point triumph. Asheville finished with 12 aces compared to five by the Eagles. NCCU also committed 17 service errors.
 
Junior libero Loren Johnson contributed 15 digs and junior setter Bella Dearinger orchestrated the strong-hitting Eagles with 36 assists. Spencer finished with seven kills and a team-best two aces.
 
UNC Asheville (2-1) received a team-high 15 points from freshman Albertine van der Goot, who tallied 12 kills, 14 assists and six block assists.
 
NC Central (0-2) will next play two matches against Gardner-Webb University over Labor Day weekend in a two-day, home-and-away series. The Eagles will first host the Runnin' Bulldogs in their home opener on Friday, Sept. 1 at 6 p.m., before traveling to Boiling Springs, North Carolina, one day later for a matinee at 4 p.m.
 
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