Box Score
NORFOLK, Va. – Needing a win to keep pace in conference play, the Norfolk State volleyball team did just that, although not without some drama at the end, in a 3-2 victory over Delaware State Friday Night at Joseph Echols Hall.
On Breast Cancer Awareness Night, and donning their pink t-shirts, NSU came out firing on all cylinders, winning the first two sets, 25-19, 25-10, to open play. Delaware State got its rhythm back and won the next two sets, 26-24, 25-23, but the Spartans had the answer in the fifth set, pulling out a 15-12 win for the match victory.
Playing in front of a crowd of more than 250 people who were loud, enthusiastic, and even tried getting the wave going, NSU improved to 2-2 in the MEAC and 6-10 overall. The Hornets fell to 3-14, 2-3 in conference play. Dating back to 2001, Delaware State had won the past 17 meetings in the series.
Freshman Adriana Ramos paced the offense with 16 kills and also added 15 digs and three service aces, while junior Beatriz Ferreira posted 14 kills for an NSU offense that hit .145 for the night. The Spartans limited Delaware State to a .023 attack percentage and held the Hornets to just nine kills through the first two sets and 29 overall for the match.
NSU, meanwhile, had 54 kills and also held the advantage in digs (61-45) and service aces (12-8), although Delaware State had 10 blocks to NSU's seven.
Junior Charlotte Armstead also reached double digit kills with 10, and senior Jasmine Frazier added nine kills and four blocks. Senior libero Tracey Copley had a team-high 16 digs, and junior Kristen Burt had a double-double with 41 assists and 12 digs to go along with three service aces.
Delaware State was led by Jessica Russell-Croucher and Edarkis Branch with seven kills each and Sonja Banicevic with 18 digs. Christobel Fakaosi had 25 assists, and Laisha Davis added six kills and six blocks.
The Spartans limited Delaware State to a -.174 attack percentage in the fifth set as NSU saved its night with a solid closing to the match. The Spartans won the first three points and earned a 5-1 lead on a block by Frazier and Flowers, but the Hornets chipped away at the lead, cutting it down to one at 7-6. The teams just traded points over the next several serves, keeping DSU from tying it up, and then two big kills from Frazier and a service ace from junior Paige Gary-Canty put NSU in the driver's seat, 13-9.
The Hornets won the next two points, but Ramos knocked one down in play, and two serves later Delaware State committed its 26th attack error of the night giving NSU the 15-12 fifth-set win.
Delaware State won three of the first four points to start the match off, but NSU ran off four straight points for a 5-3 lead and then proceeded to build that advantage up to 12-7 after a kill by Ferreira and a service ace from Armstead. A 5-0 run, which included two service aces from Burt, gave the Spartans a 17-8 lead, but the Hornets cut the deficit to four twice, the last at 22-18. Ferreira added two more kills to finish things off in that first set.
NSU completely took Delaware State out of the match in the second set, as Ramos knocked down three kills during an 8-1 run to start the set. A 9-1 run, helped by numerous Hornet errors, made it 17-3 in favor of the Spartans. From there, NSU went on cruise control, as the Hornets posted just three kills, nine attack errors and four service errors in the second set.
The Spartans lost that momentum following the 10-minute intermission, as the Spartans had to rally early just to tie the third set at 5-5. Ferreira had two kills and then a service ace from Gary-Canty gave the Spartans a 12-10 lead, but DSU tied it at 14-14 a short time later. A kill from freshman Jasmin Flowers and Armstead helped the Spartans go back up by three, 17-14, but the Hornets tied it up and then grabbed a 21-20 lead.
A kill by Ramos and an attack error on the Hornets got NSU within one point of the win, 24-23, but a kill by Branch and a service ace from Banicevic put DSU up by one, 25-24, before an error on the Spartans sent the match into a fourth set.
Down 5-1 early in the fourth set, Frazier slammed down two kills to get to 5-4, and then kills from Gary-Canty and Ramos tied it up at 7-7. NSU had to call time down 12-8, and Ramos' service ace got the Spartans to within one, 12-11, before the Hornets went up by five, 17-12. NSU got to within two at 19-17 and then cut the deficit to one, 20-19, on back-to-back kills from Armstead.
Another Armstead kill and two straight service aces by Ramos tied the set at 22-22, but Russell-Croucher had a block and a kill during the next four serves for a 25-23 fourth-set win by the Hornets.
NSU will finish its six-match homestand Sunday against Northern Division leader UMES at 3 p.m. at Echols.
