Box Score
NORFOLK, Va. – Call it a long Homecoming weekend. Call it a change of scenery. Call it lack of emotion. Whatever you call it, the Norfolk State volleyball team played an uninspired match that eventually led to a 3-2 loss to North Carolina Central Sunday afternoon at Joseph Echols Hall.
Despite a career-high 24 kills from sophomore Charlotte Armstead – the most by a MEAC player this season – the Spartans were unable to finish off the Eagles after taking the first two sets, 25-22, 25-13. NSU nearly had the third set won before NCCU came back for the 25-23 victory. The Eagles grabbed the fourth set, 25-23, then dominated the fifth set, 15-7, for the match win.
Sophomore Ellica Morris was the only other player in double figures, as she posted a double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs. Freshman Arielle Knafel had a match-high 18 digs with six blocks, while redshirt sophomore Paige Gary-Canty added 17 digs and five kills. Junior Nicole Kessner also tallied a double-double with 41 assists and 10 digs.
NSU fell back into old form with 38 attack errors as the team hit just .078 for the match. The Eagles did not fare that much better, committing 32 errors and attacking at a .079 clip. NSU got outblocked, 11-7, while NCCU also had a 6-5 advantage in service aces. For the 12th time in the last 13 matches, NSU had more digs, holding a 74-60 edge against the Eagles.
NCCU was led by Belinda Behncke-Biney with 16 kills and 15 digs, while Raven King totaled 18 digs. Jzima-Malaki Kalao added 37 assists and six digs, while Sashalee Wallen had 10 kills and a match-high nine blocks.
Two straight attack errors on NCCU gave the Spartans a 4-1 lead to kick things off, but after NSU went up, 7-4, the Eagles scored five straight points to take a 9-7 lead. NSU tied the score up a short time later, but the Spartans called time down 12-10 after Behncke-Biney posted back-to-back kills.
NSU fell down by three at 16-13, tied the score back up at 16-16, then immediately fell into a 20-16 hole before NSU called another timeout. A kill by junior Jasmine Frazier right after the timeout sparked a 5-0 run, and after a service error on Morris made the score 23-22, two straight attack errors on Behncke-Biney, the last off a block by Knafel and Armstead, gave the Spartans the 25-23 win.
Two straight kills by Armstead gave NSU a 4-1 lead for the second straight set, a lead that stretched to 9-3 after Frazier and Morris rejected an Eagle attack. Following a timeout there by the Eagles, the deficit grew to eight at 12-4 before NCCU cut the lead to four at 12-8.
Five straight points by the Spartans grew the lead to 17-8, a lead that reached double-digits at 20-9 after another pair of attack errors on the Eagles. Armstead and Morris added back-to-back kills to make it 24-10, and after NCCU kept play alive for a few more serves, a service error on Kalin Russell ended the second set, 25-13.
Neither team could get an extended run going as the third set commenced, with the Spartans building a 5-3 lead on an error on the Eagles before NCCU momentarily took a 7-6 lead. An attack error on Russell capped a 4-1 run for the Spartans that made it 10-8, but NSU called time in the middle of a 4-0 run by NCCU that gave the Eagles the lead right back at 12-10.
A kill by Kessner gave NSU the lead back, and after losing that advantage for one serve, a service ace by Morris capped a 4-0 run and put NSU up by three at 19-16. But as was the case the entire set, the lead changed hands again as another 4-0 run, this time by the Eagles, made it 20-19.
Kills by Armstead made it 22-21 NSU and then tied the score at 23-23, but a kill by Wallen and a service ace by Russell ended the set with NCCU on top, 25-23.
The Spartans found themselves down 3-0 to start the fourth set, and only one time throughout most of the set was NSU able to string together two straight points. The team called timeout down, 12-9, but a kill by Armstead – one of her nine in the set – and a double hit on Kalao cut the NCCU lead to one at 17-16.
Just when it seemed NCCU would pull away at 20-17, the Spartans tallied five straight points, the last on an ace by freshman Mykal Vailu'u, for a 22-20 lead. A kill by Gary-Canty a few points later put NSU on top again at 23-22, but three straight attack errors on the Spartans forced a fifth set and gave NCCU the 25-23.
With momentum clearly on their side, the Eagles raced out to a 5-0 lead to start the fifth set, a lead that eventually got to 10-4. The Spartans had no answers as NCCU hit .474 without an attack error in the fifth set to win, 15-7.
NSU will take to the road for the first time since Oct. 8 at South Carolina State and Savannah State Wednesday and Thursday.
