Box Score
NORFOLK, Va. – Coaches were high on freshman Arielle Knafel in the preseason. After the team's season opener against Providence in the Spartan Classic, other teams will start taking notice as well.
Shaking off some early-season rust, the Norfolk State volleyball team defeated the Friars, 3-1, Friday afternoon at Joseph Echols Hall in the Spartan Classic. After dropping the first set, 25-20, the Spartans won the next three sets, 25-22, 25-22, 25-21, to drop Providence to 0-2 on the young season.
“To be able to keep plugging away and working at it and end up on top in the end, it's exactly what all coaches want to see,” said interim head coach #Brandon Duvall#. “You don't want to see your team crumble at the end. You want them to continue to grow and push forward, and that's exactly what they did.”
Knafel totaled 23 kills and 15 digs, while fellow rookie Noelle Eagles led all players with 25 digs. Redshirt sophomore Paige Gary-Canty also posted a double-double with 13 kills and 10 digs, and junior Nicole Kessner posted 44 assists.
Lauren Fletcher led the Friars with 11 kills and nine service aces, while Cassie Muzzonigro added 13 digs. Carly Morrison and Anne Powers posted 17 and 11 assists, respectively.
The Spartans hit .261 for the match and limited the Friars to a .186 attack percentage. Norfolk State posted 63 kills as a team, compared to 36 for Providence, but kept the Friars in the game with 26 attack errors.
Providence also held an 11-5 advantage in service aces and a 4-2 edge in blocks.
The Spartans got started off on the right foot when junior transfer Jasmine Frazier and sophomore Maatra Henderson threw down back-to-back kills for a 2-0 lead. NSU fell behind by three at 10-7, but got back into the game as Knafel put down her first collegiate kill to tie it up at 11-11.
The teams went back and forth for the next few serves, but a 9-0 run by Providence extended the lead to 22-14. The Spartans battled back, pushing the score to 23-19 after a surprise kill by Kessner, but the Friars held on for the 25-20 first set win despite a .370 attack percentage by NSU in the set.
Knafel got her feet under her in the second set, posting seven kills in the frame. As was the case the entire day, NSU got a slow start before storming back. After falling behind, 6-3, NSU used a kill by Kessner to take an 8-7 lead.
“She got hit in the face early in the match, and usually most people try to hide from that type of embarrassment, but it motivated her to take it to the next level,” said Duvall of Knafel's offensive outburst.
NSU called a timeout down 13-11, but a service error on Providence followed by a laser of a kill by Knafel tied it up at 13-13. The Spartans won the next three points and four of the next five to go up, 17-14.
Kessner later added a kill that ended a 5-0 run for NSU that built a 22-17 lead, but the Spartans were forced to call a timeout when the Friars cut the deficit to 22-21. NSU stopped the run and Gary-Canty put down a kill to end the set, 25-22.
Providence opened the third set with a 7-3 lead, but NSU kept things close, getting to within two points on several occasions, including a big kill by sophomore Charlotte Armstead that made it 14-12 Providence. The Friars called a timeout in the middle of a 6-0 Spartan run, highlighted by three kills by Gary-Canty, that made it 19-15 NSU.
Duvall called a timeout when the Friars cut the lead to 19-18, but the Spartans held off the Friars and secured the 25-22 win on a Providence service error. Kessner added 15 assists in the set.
Knafel then exploded in the fourth set and put on an offensive display, laying down nine kills alone in the set, although once again NSU found itself down by a 7-3 score to open up play.
“Arielle is a crowd pleaser,” said Duvall. “You don't need to know a lot about volleyball to know when someone is good. She has a great, fast arm.”
Knafel knocked down three straight kills to get NSU to two at 8-6, and after Providence built a 10-6 lead, the Spartans won nine of the next 10 points, helped out by several Friar errors, as NSU went up, 15-11.
The Friars got to within one at 21-20, but Knafel and Gary-Canty limited the damage as another Friar error ended the match in that fourth set, 25-21.
