In a pair of 3-0 wins over Savannah State on Friday (Oct. 2) and S.C. State on Sunday (Oct. 4), Stamnes had a combined 25 kills, 11 digs, five service aces and two assists. For her efforts, Stamnes was named MEAC co-player of the week. Stamnes shares this week’s honor with Morgan State sophomore Keana Browne.

The honor marks the second time in the five-year Hal Clifton era that an Aggie has earned player of the week honors from the conference as Stamnes joins Liz Martino who was awarded the accolade on Oct. 13, 2014. Martino has the other weekly honor in the Clifton era as she was named rookie of the week in 2013.

Stamnes started her week by posting 12 kills in the win over SSU. Eleven of Stamnes’ kills came over the final two sets of the match as she made just one attack error in her final 19 swings. Those final two sets helped her post a season-high .286 hitting percentage. Stamnes followed that performance by posting 13 kills against the Bulldogs with six of those kills coming in the second set. She also added eight digs and scored four more times on service aces.

She ranks among the top 10 in the conference in services aces (5th, 0.32), points (7th, 3.44) and kills per set (8th, 2.95). Stamnes and the Aggies return to action on Friday, Oct. 9 when they travel to Bethune-Cookman to face the Wildcats at 7 p.m.

Gardin, Cohen Earn Football Accolades
The North Carolina A&T sophomore Khris Gardin (5-8, 158, Morganton, N.C.) and junior Tarik Cohen (5-6, 173, Bunn, N.C.) complemented each other well in the Aggies 45-31 win over Hampton in what was the Aggies conference opener last Saturday.

Gardin set up the Aggies offense with a short field thanks to a long punt return and Cohen would complete the job by scoring touchdowns. Both men were honored on Monday by earning separate conference honors from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference office. Gardin was named special teams player of the week, while Cohen took home offensive player of the week honors for the fifth time in his career.

Gardin also notched national honors as STATS named him FCS national special teams player of the week Monday evening.

N.C. A&T’s recognition on special teams marks the second time this season an Aggie as earned special teams player of the week in the conference after Caleb Gabriel shared the accolade on Sept. 7 following his 92-yard kickoff return for touchdown against Shaw on Sept. 5.

It was a record-breaking day for Gardin against the Hampton Pirates. He averaged 50.8 yards on four punt returns including a 71-yard return for touchdown that gave the Aggies a 38-31 lead in the fourth quarter. Gardin’s average per return was a school record as his other three returns went for 42, 45 and 45. He was not eligible for the NCAA FCS record because the NCAA requires five returns in a game to be recognized. Nationally, he is third in the nation in yards per punt return (22.5).

Cohen is all too familiar with national rankings. He is routinely ranked among the nation’s best in various statistical categories.

This year he is seventh in the nation in rushing touchdowns after a three-TD performance against the Pirates. Cohen scored on runs of 13, 3 and 2 to give him six for the season and 29 for his career. Cohen has four three-touchdown games in his career.

Also on Saturday, Cohen moved past James White and Maurice Hicks into second place on the Aggies all-time rushing list after his 107-yard, 22-carry day gave him 2,866 career yards.

The Aggies travel to Norfolk, Va., this week to face the Norfolk State Spartans at Dick Price Stadium at 2 p.m.