Box Score

GREENSBORO, N.C. – It took slightly more than an hour, but the Norfolk State volleyball team wasted little time in dispatching North Carolina A&T Friday night, 3-0, at the Corbett Sports Center.

NSU used scores of 25-19, 25-14, 25-14 to improve its record to 6-14 on the year and 1-1 in the MEAC. The Aggies dropped to 2-21 overall – their eighth loss in a row – and 0-1 after their first conference match of the season.

Sophomore Charlotte Armstead easily led all players with 15 kills, while redshirt sophomore Paige Gary-Canty and sophomore Ellica Morris added seven kills apiece. Junior Nicole Kessner handed out 33 assists, while freshman Noelle Eagles totaled 11 digs and five service aces.

The Spartans hit a season-best .316 compared to just .059 for the Aggies. NSU also posted way more kills (43-15), digs (39-13), service aces (13-3) and blocks (5-3) than A&T.

The Aggies were led by Tatiana Cooper with five kills and Amber Inman, who had team highs with 14 assists and five digs.

It marked the fewest kills by an opponent since Texas Southern had 12 in Aug. 2009.

The Spartans did not grab a big lead as the match got underway, getting up by as much as three at 7-4 after a Morris service ace before A&T tied the first set at 9-9. A kill by freshman Arielle Knafel gave NSU a 14-11 lead, which the Spartans to five at 19-14 on Knafel's service ace.

The Aggies scored the next three points to get to two at 19-17, but NSU grabbed momentum back for the rest of the set and finally ended it on a kill by Morris for the 25-19 first-set win.

Along with Morris' five kills in the first set, Armstead totaled six, with Kessner adding 14 assists.

NSU never gave up the lead to start the second set, but the Aggies got to one at 5-4 off a kill before the Spartans scored the next four points, capped by a service ace by Kessner, to open up a 9-4 lead. The lead got to seven at 13-6 after a service ace by Eagles, and the Spartans continued to roll from there.

Kessner added another service ace for a nine-point lead at 19-10, and the Spartans scored four straight points near the end of the set, two off the hands of Gary-Canty, to cruise to the 25-14 win. Both Gary-Canty and Armstead had five kills in the set.

The Aggies grabbed their only lead in the match by taking the first point of the third set, and later tied the score at 6-6 on a kill by Cooper. That threat ended with a 7-0 run by the Spartans, including three on service aces by Eagles that helped open up a 13-6 lead.

A 6-0 run a short time later, with two kills by freshman Mykal Vailu'u mixed in, made it 21-9 NSU, and a service error on A&T a little bit later ended the set, 25-14.

The Spartans will be back home Monday against Savannah State followed by South Carolina State on Wednesday. Both matches start at 6 p.m. and will be played at Joseph Echols Hall.