Box Score
NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State volleyball team kept its hot streak alive Friday night, taking down North Carolina A&T, 3-0, at James D. Gill Gymnasium for the team's fifth win in the last six matches.
The Spartans swept the Aggies, 25-15, 25-18, 25-19, in the fifth of six straight matches at home to run their record to 10-15 on the year and 4-1 in the MEAC.
It marks just the second time since NSU joined the MEAC in 1997 that the Spartans have secured four conference wins. NSU also reached double-digit wins for just the second time in 11 years.
Sophomore
Charlotte Armstead paced the offense with 12 kills on a .450 attack percentage, while junior
Jasmine Frazier and
Ellica Morris each added seven kills. Junior
Nicole Kessner posted a double-double with 10 digs and 31 assists.
As has been the case during the recent stretch, NSU hit much better at the net, attacking at a .231 clip with just 14 attack errors. The NSU defense held the Aggies to a .024 attack percentage and 19 kills to the Spartans' 35.
NSU also posted a 41-33 advantage in digs and had more service aces, 9-3, and blocks, 5-4. Despite nine service aces, NSU struggled at times on serve, committing 15 errors on the night.
Tatiana Cooper led the Aggies with seven kills and added six digs, while Mia Gray had a match-high 13 digs. Amber Inman posted 17 assists.
Tied 2-2 in the opening set, NSU rattled off four straight points that was part of an 8-2 run, thanks in part to several errors on the Aggies, which pushed the score to 10-4. The lead stretched to eight at 14-6 on a service ace by sophomore
Kristen Burt, and an attack error on the Aggies made it 17-8 a little bit later.
The teams traded points for the rest of the set until back-to-back attack errors on the Aggies' Andrea Evans provided the final margin of the first set, 25-15.
A&T earned the first three points of the second set, but a 5-1 run, capped by a kill from Frazier, put NSU back on top, 5-4. The Aggies took the lead right back, and NSU was forced to play catch-up from there. Down 13-11 following a service error, back-to-back kills by Morris, two of her five in the set, sparked a 4-0 rally that made it 15-13 NSU.
Morris added a service ace that made it 19-16 and forced the Aggies to call a timeout, but the Spartans continued to pour it on late, as a kill by Armstead ended an 8-2 run and also ended the set, 25-18.
The Aggies again got an early lead to start the third set, as a kill by Cooper made it 4-3 to open play. Kessner added a service ace to put NSU back on top, 6-4, but the Spartans had to call time when Cooper returned the favor and tied the score at 7-apiece.
Following a timeout there by NSU, freshman
Noelle Eagles added a kill, thanks to some miscommunication by A&T on the other side of the net, that was later followed by a 5-0 run capped by a service ace by freshman
Arielle Knafel. That made it 13-9 Spartans.
An attack error on Cooper got the lead to six at 18-12, and after the Aggies called time, NSU got the lead to seven at 21-14 and held off a mini-rally by A&T before Armstead ended the set with another kill, her sixth of the set, for the final 25-19 margin.
NSU will complete the six-match homestand Sunday against North Carolina Central. First serve is slated for 3 p.m. in Echols Hall.