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GREENSBORO, N.C. -- A tense and well fought game awaited the patrons of Moore Gymnasium on Friday night for the home opener of the North Carolina A&T (NCAT) Aggies. However, it was their challengers, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES), who rose to the top by winning a decisive fifth set to take the match, three sets to two. The win puts UMES at 3-5 overall while NCAT drops to 0-9.

Tight at the start, the first set went the Hawks' way in the middle of the set. With the scored tied at ten, the Hawks went on a 9-3 run with help from senior Ksenia Sukhareva (Moscow, Russia), in both kills and on the serve. However, the Aggies pulled it even at 21 before the Hawks rallied the score the final four points for the win 25-21. The Hawks squashed the Aggies dreams of a comeback with junior Ashley Smith (Huntley, Ill.) taking charge much the way Ksenia did, thru attacks and serves.

NCAT jumped out early in Set 2 before the Hawks found their rhythm. Down 23-19, the Hawks relied on sophomore Alison Woods (Magnolia, Tex.) to bring the Hawks back. She was able to lead a nice rally before serving into the net with the Hawks down 23-22. The service error proved to be costly at the Aggies captured the second set, 25-23, thus tying the match at one set apiece.

Set three belonged to UMES from the start. The Hawks brought a ferocious rally with sophomore Haley Robinson (Honolulu, Hawaii) contributing two service aces. Before the Aggies knew it, the Hawks had run up a lead to 24-14. The Aggies did not go down quietly though, as they amassed a five-point rally before UMES clinched it, 25-19.

UMES looked to clinch in the fourth set, which started off promising as the Hawks took a 4-1 lead on three NCAT errors and a Sukhareva kill. The Aggies would rally, however, and then the two teams would trade off points, taking the score up to 12-10 in favor of the Hawks. When UMES lost the rally on a service error, NCAT seized the moment, going on a 6-1 run to snatch the lead. The Hawks would chip slowly but surely into that lead once again and ultimately forced a 20-20 tie. With sophomore Precious Manu (Carson, Calif.) serving, the Hawks took the lead again late by the score of 22-21 and perhaps it looked like they would overcome the Aggie relay. However, a series of close calls went the way of NCAT, who took advantage and forced extra time before winning the set, 27-25, to tie the match at two sets.

However, the fourth set would prove to be the climatic moment of the game as UMES raced out to an early rally in set five. Initially close with a 4-3, Sukhareva led the charge with her serves, and the Hawks eventually led 9-3 before the Aggies could rebound with a point. In the end, the Hawks won the match by taking the fifth set, 15-6.

The five set match allowed the Hawks to amass some lofty statistics. As a team, they finished the match with 52 kills on 184 attacks as well as 102 digs. Smith ended the game with 13 kills, followed by freshmen Alana Polk (Houston, Tex.) with 12 and Kirstin Fink (Tucson, Ariz.) with 10. Woods led the digs department with 34, with Sukhareva right behind her with 29 of her own. Additionally, both Sukhareva and Robinson drilled two aces each, good for more than half of the team's total of seven.

Tomorrow morning marks the second matchup for the Hawks in this tournament as they will face Alabama A&M Bulldogs on NCAT's campus. First serve is slated for 11:30am.