Box Score

SAVANNAH, Ga. – The Norfolk State volleyball team completed the season sweep of Savannah State with a 3-0 win over Savannah State Thursday night at Tiger Arena.

The Spartans won, 25-17, 25-11, 25-15, to run their record to 11-17 overall. Savannah State, expected to join the MEAC in 2011, fell to 3-22 overall.

Sophomore Ellica Morris led all players with nine kills, while sophomore Charlotte Armstead added six kills and four blocks. Freshman Noelle Eagles added a team-high 11 digs, while junior Nicole Kessner totaled 18 assists and seven digs.

The Tigers were led by Jennifer Lowe with six kills, while Kaneisha Hamilton totaled a match-high 15 digs. Ashlee Butler had 10 assists.

NSU hit .141 and held the Tigers to 12 kills and a -.211 attack percentage with 28 errors. It marked the worst attack percentage by an NSU opponent in at least eight years. NSU also had a 31-26 edge in digs and 5-2 advantage in blocks.

By reaching their 11th win, the Spartans tied the 1999 squad for the second-most wins in a season during NSU's Division I era. NSU had 19 wins in 1998 for the D-I record.

An early 4-0 run, all thanks to errors on the Tigers, helped NSU take a 5-1 lead to begin the first set. A block by Armstead and freshman Mykal Vailu'u made it 10-4 before a 5-1 run by Savannah State made it 11-9 Spartans. Back-to-back kills by Morris and junior Jasmine Frazier sparked a 4-0 run that pushed the lead to seven at 18-11.

The Tigers stayed within five down the stretch at 21-16, but kills by freshman Arielle Knafel, Vailu'u and Armstead were part of the 4-1 run that ended the set for NSU, 25-17. Morris added five of her nine total kills in the first set.

Down 5-2 to begin the second set, the Tigers got to within one at 5-4 and then again at 7-6. A 7-1 run by the Spartans, started by back-to-back kills by Frazier and Knafel and ended with five straight attack errors on the Tigers, pushed the score to 14-7 midway through the set.

NSU later used a 5-0 run to go up, 20-9, and Savannah State committed four attack errors in the last five points to give NSU the 25-11 win.

The Spartans coughed up an early two-point lead as the Tigers grabbed a 6-5 lead in the third set. Savannah State still had the lead at 10-9, but a kill by Morris started a 6-1 run that ended with NSU up, 15-11.

Two more 3-0 runs got the lead to six and then to eight at 21-13 following a service ace by Knafel, one of just two for the Spartans on the night. Freshman Kylie Thiim added a kill near the end of the set before the last of 28 attack errors on the Tigers gave NSU the 25-15 win.

The Spartans will get more than a week off before heading to North Carolina Central on Nov. 7.