Box Score

NORFOLK, Va. — Shardonay Blueford (Chesapeake, Va.) had a double-double of 16 kills and 18 digs as Norfolk State (6-24, 3-5 MEAC) defeated Bethune-Cookman (7-13, 3-4) in the Spartans' final conference game of the season on Friday afternoon at Echols Hall. NSU rallied to win the final three games, winning the match 3-1 (25-30, 30-23, 30-28, 31-29).

As is stands, NSU is fourth in the MEAC Southern Division and should make it to the 2007 MEAC Tournament for the first time since 2005, when all teams made it to the tournament. This year's tournament will be held on November 16-17 at the Hampton University Convocation Center.

The Lady Wildcats jumped out to a 10-5 lead on an attack error by Blueford, but the Spartans rallied to come as close as four (28-24) after a Cherry kill. Danielle Goodrum sealed the 30-25 win with a kill.

The remaining games were all nail-biters, especially game 4. The Lady Wildcats took a 29-28 lead on a kill by Goodrum, but a ball-handling error by Keisha Vicks tied it at 29-all. A setting error by Julie Gibson and a kill by Vanessa Faircloth (Lumberton, N.C.) gave the Spartans their third home-win of the season.
For B-CU, Goodrum had 17 kills, 14 digs, and two service aces. Jessica Belton had a match-high 24 digs, and Gibson had 25 assists.

The NSU defense did not miss a beat as it tallied a season-high 103 digs. Abaina Farrell (Charlotte Amalie, U.S.V.I.) led the defenders recording 20 digs. Solange Honore (San Fernando, Trinidad) and Heather Quinn (Conyers, Ga.) had 12 digs each, while Cherry had 17 and Yolanda Roberts (Virginia Beach, Va.) had 18.

Quinn and Roberts each had 12 kills. Honore dished out 46 assists and Faircloth tallied two aces and two blocks (one solo).

NSU travels to Hampton on Tuesday for a 6 p.m. non-conference matchup with the Lady Pirates.