Box Score

NORFOLK, Va. – Despite a career night from junior Beatriz Ferreira, Morgan State won an intense back-and-forth match over the Norfolk State volleyball team, 3-2, Friday evening at Gill Gymnasium. The Bears rallied back from a 2-1 deficit and overcame several NSU leads for the big victory.

After a 25-15 win in the first set that had Morgan State cruising, NSU came back to win the second, 25-17, and the third set, 25-23, after falling behind early on. The Spartans came oh-so-close in the fourth set, but the Bears survived 29-27, and then went on to win the fifth set, 15-13.

NSU fell to 7-13 overall but also 3-5 in MEAC play with just four conference matches left in the season. Morgan State continued to solidify its position in the league with its fourth-straight win, improving the Bears to 7-17, 5-3.

Ferreira had 24 kills on the night, just two away from tying the school record, and hit .396, but NSU as a team hit just .171, done in by 34 attack errors. Morgan State, meanwhile, attacked at a .268 clip with just 18 attack errors in the five-set match.

Junior Charlotte Armstead and freshman Adriana Ramos added 12 and 11 kills, respectively, while Ramos was one of three Spartans in double figures in digs with 13. Senior Tracey Copley had 14 digs, with junior Paige Gary-Canty adding 10. Junior Kristen Burt had 46 assists with six digs, while Armstead also tallied four blocks.

As a team, NSU had a 60-48 edge in digs, while Morgan State doubled up the Spartans in blocks, 12-6. NSU also posted 11 service aces on the night.

Tied at 2-2, NSU started off the fifth set with a 3-0 lead, but gave it right back as Morgan State won the next four points. A kill from Armstead and a service ace from junior Megan Lavo put NSU back up by two, 9-7, but a block by Kierra Outlin and Janelle Wilson tied it up at 11-11. A kill from Wilson and a block by Zurie Smith and Natalie Chafeh made it 13-12 in favor of the Bears, but after Ferreira tied the score for the eighth time in the set, Outlin landed another kill and then an error on the Spartans allowed Morgan State to escape with the victory.

Morgan State was led by Outlin with 15 kills and Erin Cox with nine kills and 12 digs. Chafeh added 42 assists, eight digs, seven kills and four blocks, while Smith totaled seven kills and a match-high seven blocks. The Bears hit better than .200 in all five sets.

NSU started off slow to begin the match, hitting in the negative in the first set as the Bears built a 12-5 lead early on. The Bear lead stretched to eight at 16-8, and a kill and service ace from junior Maatra Henderson, which made it 21-13, marked just the third time in the set the Spartans won two straight points. Morgan State went to win by the 10-point margin.

The upper hand belonged to NSU in the second set, as the Spartans built an 8-4 lead thanks to three kills from Ramos. NSU had to call timeout when Morgan State tied it up at 8-8, but two service aces from Burt put the Spartans back on top, 13-10. A kill and block by Ramos got it to 18-14, and then Ramos had three of her match-high four service aces during a 6-0 run that turned it into a 24-15 lead. Ferreira ended the set with her sixth kill of the stanza.

Morgan State took the momentum back in the third set with a 6-2 lead, but kills by Ramos, Burt and Armstead cut the lead to one, 8-7. Armstead knocked home two kills during a 4-0 run to give NSU the lead, 13-12, and after Ramos tied things up at 16-all, the teams went back-and-forth for the next several serves. Morgan State called timeout after a kill from Burt and two more from Ferreira put NSU up, 23-21, and then one last kill by Ferreira put NSU in prime position to win the match.

After hitting .409 in the second set, NSU came back with a strong third set, attacking at a .344 clip.

The Bears had none of that, though, taking another early lead, 6-1, in the fourth stanza, forcing NSU to play catch-up. A kill from freshman Jasmin Flowers cut it to two, 7-5, and a kill from Ferreira again saw NSU down by just two, 12-10. The Bears began to pull away with an 18-12 advantage, but a 5-1 run by the Spartans, with two more kills from Ramos, again cut the deficit to two, 19-17.

After Morgan State won the next three points, a 5-0 run by the Spartans tied it back up at 22-22. Ferreira kept NSU alive to make it 25-25, and an error on the Bears put NSU within one point of the victory. Two kills by the Bears gave them the lead back, but after Flowers kept the set alive, a service ace from Morgan State forced the deciding fifth set.

Ferreira added eight kills in the fourth set.

NSU will compete against the other Baltimore school, Coppin State, Sunday at 3 p.m. on the road.