Box Score

PRINCESS ANNE, Md. – Getting off to a slow start, the Norfolk State volleyball team turned things back around in the middle of the match but couldn't sustain that momentum in a 3-2 loss to Coppin State Saturday at the Peaky's North/South UMES Hawk Invitational.

After the Eagles won the first set, 25-17, NSU looked to be in control after winning the next two sets, 25-19 and 25-17. But with their backs against the wall, the Eagles took the fourth set, 25-18, and the fifth and final set, 15-11.

The loss dropped NSU to 5-12 on the season, while Coppin State upped its record to 3-13.

Sophomore Ellica Morris led the Spartans with 13 kills while hitting .233, while freshman Arielle Knafel and sophomore Charlotte Armstead totaled 12 and 10 kills, respectively. Freshman Noelle Eagles led the match with 17 digs, and junior Nicole Kessner totaled 29 assists, nine kills and eight digs.

Coppin State was led by Ashley Saunders with 14 kills and 10 digs and Haley Beechler with 28 assists. Alexandria Malesick had a match-high six blocks as the Eagles outblocked the Spartans, 12-5.5.

The Eagles also hit .243 for the match with 42 kills and just 15 attack errors, while NSU hit .162 with 58 kills but committed 35 attack errors. NSU held a big edge in digs, 49-36, and Coppin State had a slight advantage in service aces, 7-6.

It didn't take long for the Eagles to assert themselves, as they built a 7-2 lead early on in the first set that was immediately followed by a NSU timeout. A kill by Kessner got the Spartans to three at 9-6, but a 5-1 run by Coppin State got the deficit to seven at 14-7.

The teams went back and forth before Coppin State got the lead to nine at 19-10. Morris added three kills during a 4-1 NSU run that made it 23-17, but the Eagles took the last two points of the set for the 25-17 win.

Back-to-back kills by redshirt sophomore Paige Gary-Canty and junior Jasmine Frazier ended a 7-1 run for NSU to start the second set. The teams then began to go back and forth before a kill by Morris and two attack errors on the Eagles made it 15-8 in favor of the Spartans.

NSU then committed several attack errors to put Coppin State right back into the set as the Spartan lead shrank to three, 17-14, but kills by Armstead and Knafel helped end that threat. The Eagles got to three again at 21-18, but two kills by Knafel and a kill and service ace by Morris ended the set 25-19. Kessner totaled 14 assists in the set.

Frazier's kill again ended a strong run as NSU built a 5-1 lead in the third set. Coppin State scored the next three points to cut the lead to one at 5-4, but a 6-0 run by the Spartans, helped by several Eagle errors, made it 11-4.

A kill by Frazier kept the seven-point lead safe at 16-9, as did a kill by freshman Kyle Thiim with NSU up, 19-12. A 4-0 run at that point got Coppin State to three at 19-16, but the Eagles got no closer as NSU went on to win the third set, 25-19.

Armstead knocked down a kill to tie the fourth set at 3-3, but a 6-1 run by the Eagles gave them a 9-4 lead from there. A service ace by Coppin State pushed the lead to six at 14-8, a lead that eventually swelled to 10 at 19-9. Kills by Kessner and Frazier later made it 21-15, but the deficit was too insurmountable for NSU as Coppin State won the fourth set, 25-18.

A 7-1 start to the fifth set for Coppin State pretty much doomed any hopes of NSU pulling out the win. A kill by Kessner, her fourth of the set, and a block from the trio of Frazier, Knafel and Gary-Canty gave NSU hope down 11-8 as Coppin State called time.

Morris' service ace on the next play made the scoreboard 11-9, but an attack error on Knafel and two straight kills by Coppin State pushed NSU to the brink at 14-9. NSU could only hold off the Eagles for two more plays before Coppin State took the match with a 15-11 fifth-set win.