Box Score
NORFOLK, Va. – A long weekend finally caught up to the Norfolk State volleyball team as the Spartans fell to Kent State, 3-1, in the Spartan Classic Saturday afternoon at Joseph Echols Hall.
After the Golden Flashes easily won the first set, 25-11, NSU rallied late in the second set to win, 25-20. The Spartans almost took the lead in the third before Kent State earned the 25-23 win, while the Flashes handled NSU in the fourth set, 25-16.
The loss, which dropped NSU to 2-2 on the year, followed a heartbreaking five-set loss just two and a half hours earlier to UNC Greensboro and two wins to open the season on Friday. Kent State improved to 3-1 on the season.
“We had to play some of our best volleyball this weekend,” said interim head coach Brandon Duvall. “We didn't have a chance to let down at all. We came in with confidence after the first day but we knew we had to work just as hard because of how good the two teams were that we faced today.”
Freshman Arielle Knafel had a team-high 11 kills with seven digs, while redshirt sophomore Paige Gary-Canty posted 10 kills and eight digs. Freshman Noelle Eagles had a match-high 18 digs, while junior setter Nicole Kessner handed out 22 assists.
Knafel was named to the All-Tournament Team along with Maida Kalic' of Navy, Maigan Larsen of Kent State, Lauren Fletcher of Providence, Ariel Newman of UNC Greensboro and the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, Olivia Humpries of UNCG.
Kent State was led by Liva Brivule with 12 kills and Larsen with 11 digs. As a team, the Flashes hit .211, while NSU struggled on offense, attacking at a .031 clip. As was the case in the other three matches for NSU in the tournament, the Spartans were outblocked by Kent State, 10.5-4.
“They were just big at the net,” said Duvall. “We knew this was going to be the toughest match for us. They out-sized as by far. We definitely would have had to play very consistent to win this match.”
The teams were evenly matched to start the first set, as junior Jasmine Frazier laid down a kill to knot the score at 4-4. Kent State found an offensive rhythm at that point, going on a 9-0 run and winning 13-of-14 points during that stretch before sophomore Charlotte Armstead knocked down a kill that made it 17-6. Kent State cruised the rest of the way for a 25-11 win.
Armstead got NSU going in the second set, giving the Spartans an early 3-1 lead, but Kent State took control by winning seven of the next eight points for an 8-4 lead. The two squads went back and forth from there, with neither team winning more than two straight points until the Spartans turned up the intensity at the end of the set.
Down 20-16, Armstead got NSU going with a kill with an assist from Kessner. Armstead later added two straight service aces as the Spartans won the last nine points of the set for the win. After Kent State called its second timeout during that stretch following Armstead's aces, Brivule had three straight unsuccessful attacks for the final margin, 25-20.
NSU took control of the third set, building up a 6-3 lead on a service ace off the hands of sophomore Kristen Burt then extending it to 11-5 on a Kent State attack error. Kent State cut the lead down to three at 12-9, then got to within two at 16-14 that was followed by a NSU timeout.
Two straight NSU attack errors tied the match up at 19-19, and the Flashes earned their first lead of the set since being up 3-2 when another NSU attack error made it 21-20 Kent State. Two errors on KSU setter Zuzana Markova with a kill by Knafel in between gave NSU the lead right back at 23-22, but after a Kent State timeout, the Flashes took the last three points, 25-23.
The Spartans stayed with Kent State early in the fourth set, tying it up at 4-4 on a kill by Knafel. A 7-0 run by the Flashes at that point put NSU in a hole the Spartans were unable to dig out of. Knafel got NSU to within four at 18-14, but Kent State put the match out of reach and won the last set, 25-16.
The Spartans hit the road for a month straight beginning Tuesday with a 6 p.m. match at Hampton.
