ELON, N.C. – With a program-record 1,465 fans in attendance, Elon University volleyball swept North Carolina A&T 3-0 (27-25, 25-17, 25-15) on Tuesday night, Aug. 28, in the first collegiate athletic event inside the University's new Schar Center.
 
"We've been waiting for this night for a long, long time," said Elon head coach Mary Tendler. "As everyone can see, it's an amazing facility and we wanted to start it with a win. That was something we talked about as one of our team goals – win the first match was something that was said over and over and over again so we accomplished that. We were a little nervous at the beginning with the crowd being so loud and awesome, but we settled down pretty quickly and went to work."
 
THE RUNDOWN
Battling nerves to start, the Aggies opened up a 12-5 lead that saw Elon burn both of its timeouts. After the second timeout, though, the Phoenix chipped away at the lead and brought it back within two at 18-16 thanks to a 4-0 run to force an Aggie timeout. While North Carolina A&T went back up four out of the break, Elon reeled off an 8-3 run to jump on top at 24-23. With N.C. A&T sitting on set point at 25-24, Elon went on a 3-0 run to take the first set 27-25.
 
Using momentum from the first set, the Phoenix opened the second on a 6-2 run and never looked back from there in closing on a 6-2 run. The run continued in the third to an overall 11-2 with the Phoenix jumping out 5-0 to bring an Aggie timeout. Though N.C. A&T fought back to make it 7-6, Elon answered the call by finishing the night on an 18-7 run.
 
NOTES
Kam Terry led the Phoenix with 12 kills to just three errors, finishing with a .281 hitting percentage. Leah Daniel finished with seven kills with a .286 hitting percentage. While no other Phoenix had more than three kills, Elon's block played a big role in the win with the Phoenix coming up with 11 rejections. Elizabeth Coil led the way with a career-high-tying six blocks while Kellyn Trowse and Alexa Pavlick had four and Kodi Garcia two. Garcia also finished with 26 assists and Maddie Jaudon closed with 14 digs.
 
NOTES
-The crowd of 1,465 is the largest in program history by 428 fans, topping the 1,037 in 2016 against Hofstra on Nov. 11.
-Now 4-0, Elon is unbeaten through four matches for the first time since starting 5-0 to open the 2011 campaign.
-Elon has not dropped a set to North Carolina A&T since Nov. 10, 2009, sweeping each of the last nine matches against the Aggies.
-Elon had a -.064 hitting percentage in the first set, but rebounded with a .242 hitting percentage in the second and finished at .214 in the third.
-Maddie Jaudon increased her career dig total to 1,511 and is now 282 away from Wendy Schott's third-place mark of 1,793.
-Kam Terry now has 1,027 kills to her name and is 75 short of tying for the 10th-most in program history.
 
UP NEXT
Coming up this weekend, Elon will welcome Evansville, North Carolina Central and Gardner-Webb to Schar Center for the Phoenix Classic. Elon's matches are Friday, Aug. 31, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 1, at 12:30 and 7 p.m.