Box Score

NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State volleyball team played up to par with James Madison at times but could not put together a full game in a 3-1 loss to the Dukes Wednesday night at James D. Gill Gymnasium.

Playing in front of a large, boisterous crowd that seemed practically on top of the action at times because of the limited seating, the Spartans used that home court advantage to win the first set, 26-24. JMU made the right adjustments and took the next two sets, 25-13, 25-9, before holding off the Spartans in the fourth set, 28-26.

The win improved JMU's record to 17-5 on the year, while the Spartans saw their four-match win streak – just the second ever in 10 years – come to an end and their record drop to 9-15.

Sophomore Ellica Morris totaled a match-high 15 kills with six digs, while sophomore Charlotte Armstead had 13 kills. Junior Nicole Kessner contributed 29 assists with five digs, while freshman Arielle Knafel added six digs and five kills.

The Dukes were led by Jessica Zeroual with 12 kills, one of four players for JMU in double digits in kills. Danielle Erb had a double-double with 13 digs and 10 kills, while Lauren Fanelli and Megan Wiechmann had 24 and 17 assists, respectively.

JMU hit .305 for the night, while NSU attacked at a .086 clip and committed 27 errors. The Dukes also had a big advantage in digs, 47-32, as well as service aces, 10-5, and blocks, 10-6.

The Spartans jumped out on top of the Dukes early on, building a 3-1 lead and then taking it to 7-4 on a kill by redshirt sophomore Paige Gary-Canty. JMU tied it up at 7-7 and then upped the lead to two at 13-11 before NSU called a timeout.

A kill by Morris got NSU started after that timeout, but after JMU got a two point lead again at 18-16, a kill and a service ace by Armstead a short time later tied the score at 19-19 and forced JMU to use its first timeout of the set. NSU came right back and called time down 22-20, but a service error on the Dukes and a kill by Gary-Canty knotted the score at 22-22.

Back-to-back kills by Knafel and Armstead made it 24-23, but after JMU took the next point to keep the set alive, the Spartans used a service error on JMU and a block by Armstead and Kessner to take the set, 26-24.

NSU hit .467 in the set with 18 kills to just four errors, with Morris and Armstead adding eight and five of those kills, respectively.

Down 5-4 to start the second set, NSU lost all momentum when the Dukes went on a 7-0 run to go up, 12-4. An 8-1 run a short time later put the set out of reach as JMU led, 20-6. A service error and then three straight attack errors by Holly Wall made it 24-13 before a service error on the Spartans ended the set, 25-13.

JMU continued the onslaught in the third set, going up by a 5-1 score early on. NSU called timeout down 11-5, but errors continued to haunt the Spartans. Down 12-7 after a kill by Armstead, the Dukes won 13 of the last 15 points of the set for the 25-9 win.

Again, NSU went down early, as the fourth set started with the Spartans staring at a 4-1 deficit. Morris, though, started off a 5-0 run, part of a greater 7-1 spurt, that quickly turned that deficit into an 8-5 advantage for NSU. After tying the score at 8-8, the Dukes stayed with the Spartans, although an attack error on Zeroual made it 14-12 NSU midway through the match.

The Spartans called time after JMU scored four straight points for a 16-14 lead, which grew to three at 19-16 following an NSU attack error. A 5-0 run, sparked by three straight blocks on the Spartans, got NSU back on top, 21-19, and a short time later a block by Knafel and Armstead had NSU on the brink of forcing a fifth set at 24-21.

The Dukes tied it up at 24-24, and NSU twice had match serve after that point, but an attack error on the Spartans and a service ace by Erb finished off the set for JMU, 28-26.