Box Score

DOVER, Del. – Needing a win to advance to the MEAC tournament, instead the Norfolk State volleyball team was upset by Delaware State, 3-0, Sunday afternoon at Memorial Hall. The loss, coupled with Howard's 3-2 win at Coppin State, knocked the Spartans down to fifth place in the MEAC Northern Division and out of the fourth and final spot in the tournament.

The Hornets led throughout most of the first and second sets as they raced out to a 2-0 lead, winning 25-21, 25-19. NSU came back strong in the third set, but Delaware State erased a 24-22 deficit to win, 26-24. The Hornets improved to 4-8 in the conference, 5-20 overall, while the Spartans dropped to 5-7, 9-16.

Delaware State hit a blistering .355 for the match, led by Jessica Russell-Croucher with 11 kills and six digs. The Hornets committed just 10 attack errors on the day, while the Spartans had 25 as they attacked at a .121 clip.

Freshman Adriana Ramos had 10 kills to lead NSU, while senior Jasmine Frazier added nine and juniors Charlotte Armstead and Beatriz Ferreira each totaled eight kills. Junior Kristen Burt handed out 27 assists, and senior Tracey Copley posted eight digs.

Laisha Davis had seven kills and four blocks for Delaware State, while Theresa Schieder also had four blocks. The Hornets held a 9-3 edge in blocks for the match as well as a 27-19 advance in digs, led by Jessica Barnes with eight. Christobel Fakaosi had a match-high 29 assists.

The match marked the end of the collegiate careers for NSU's senior trio of Frazier, Copley and Nicole Kessner, who sat out the entire year due to injury. Frazier ended her career fifth all-time at NSU in block assists (106) and 10th in blocks (136), while Copley ranks 13th in career digs (454).

Kessner finished first all-time in assists (2,162), second in hitting percentage (.269), 10th in digs (520) and 13th in sets played (304).

With the Spartans down 2-0, NSU used kills from freshman Jasmin Flowers, Frazier and Ramos to win the first three points of the third set, but Delaware State tied it up at 5-5 a short time later. NSU used two kills from Armstead and two service aces from Ramos to go up by five, 10-5, but NSU had to call timeout when the Hornets cut it to one, 12-11. The teams then went back and forth for the next part of the set, but two kills from Frazier allowed NSU to gain a three-point lead, 21-18.

The Hornets won four of the next five points to tie it at 22-22, but a kill from Ramos and an error on Delaware State made it 24-22 in favor of the Spartans. However, a pair of kills from Russell-Croucher and two attack errors on NSU ended the season for the Spartans.

Delaware State jumped out to a 9-4 lead to start the match, and NSU had to call timeout down 12-6 a few serves later. After the Spartans cut it to three, 12-9, the Hornets slowly started to pull away, building a 21-15 lead. Two kills from Ferreira started a 4-0 run for NSU that did put the score at 21-19 in favor of DSU, but NSU got no closer as the Hornets won that first set.

Each team scored in bunches throughout the early part of the second set, as two service aces from Frazier capped a 3-0 run just after Delaware State had won three points in a row. Delaware State immediately followed that up with a 4-0 run, but the Spartans countered with four straight points, thanks to three kills from Ramos, to make it 9-8 in favor of NSU.

A 9-1 run, though, gave the Hornets a big 17-10 lead, forcing the Spartans to play catch-up. NSU began to chip away at the lead, eventually getting the deficit to 21-18 on kills from Ramos and Armstead. But Delaware State clamped up at the end, winning four of the last five points of the set.