High Point Box Score | Campbell Box Score

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The Norfolk State volleyball team earned a hard-fought 3-2 victory over High Point before falling to Campbell, 3-0, Saturday afternoon at the High Point Invitational at the Millis Center.

The Spartans defeated host High Point (2-12) in their first match of the day, 25-23, 21-25, 29-27, 22-25, 15-11, thanks in part to a relentless attack that posted 62 kills. The Panthers, on the other hand, had just 38 kills but did have a 15-4 edge in blocks.

Campbell then made quick work of the tired Spartans, 25-15, 25-15, 25-13, in the very next match to drop NSU to 3-8 on the year. The Camels improved to 8-9.

Against High Point, junior Kristen Burt posted 54 assists, just one short of tying the all-time program record, although as a team NSU tied the all-time mark for assists in a match with 60 set on Nov. 15, 2003 against Coppin State.

Freshman Adriana Ramos was one of four players in double figures in kills with 17, while senior Jasmine Frazier added 15. Juniors Charlotte Armstead and Beatriz Ferreira each added 13. NSU hit .203 as a team, compared to a .152 clip for the Panthers.

Senior Tracey Copley led all players with 20 digs, with junior Megan Lavo (14), Ramos (13) and junior Paige Gary-Canty (10) also reaching double figures. Frazier and Ramos each posted three services aces. NSU had a 73-54 edge in digs, and the teams combined for 29 service errors.

High Point was led by Courtney Johnk with 14 kills and Stephanie Kaminskas with 17 assists. Breanna Holliday had a team-high 18 digs, while Caity Farus and Johnk combined for 17 blocks.

NSU was in trouble early in the fifth and deciding set, falling behind by a 7-3 score before the Spartans turned the jets on. Kills by Frazier and Ramos during a 4-0 run tied the score at 7-7, and then a service ace by Ramos made it 10-8. A kill from Ferreira extended the lead to 13-10, and kills by Armstead and Ferreira capped off the comeback win, 15-11.

At the start of the match, Ramos added three early kills as NSU took a 5-1 lead, but after High Point took the lead back, NSU ran off six straight points to take a 14-10 lead. The Panthers eventually made their way back, tying the score at 21-21 before NSU called time. Ramos made it 24-21 with a kill, but after Kristen Heldt kept High Point alive with a pair of kills, Ferreira ended the first set with one final kill. Burt had 16 assists in that first set alone.

Lavo hit a pair of service aces as the Spartans took a 6-2 lead in the second set, but High Point won seven of nine points a short time later to take a one-point lead. After High Point went up by four, 19-15, Frazier's kill ended a 5-1 run that made it 20-20. The Panthers, though, scored five of the next six points for the win.

Several attack errors on High Point gave the Spartans a 7-3 lead to start Set 3, but after Frazier hit back-to-back service aces to put the score at 11-5, High Point cut the lead to two before NSU went back up by six at 17-11 thanks to a pair of Ramos kills. Down 24-19, High Point scored six straight points to go up by one, 25-24. Armstead and Ramos each threw down kills to keep NSU alive, and then a kill by Frazier and an attack error on High Point gave NSU the win. Ramos added seven kills in that third set, with Burt totaling 14 assists.

Down 4-1 early in the fourth set, NSU came back to tie it up at 5-5 but was forced to call timeout down by three at 13-10. Ramos' service ace tied the score at 17-17, and then a Panther attack error made it 20-19 in favor of NSU. High Point won five of the set's last six points to send it to the final set.

Against Campbell, Ferreira and Lavo each had seven kills, while Armstead added five. Burt totaled 23 assists, and Lavo led the way with 12 digs. NSU, though, hit just .029 with 28 kills and 25 errors, while Campbell hit .296.

Jordan Reaves led the Camels with nine kills, and Heather Wilson posted team highs of 18 assists and nine digs. Lorin Thomas and Annie Kobeski combined for nine blocks. The Camels also had a 7-3 edge in blocks and led in digs, 39-33.

Campbell jumped out to an 11-4 lead in the first set, and after a Frazier service ace cut the deficit to 11-7, the Camels used a 7-0 run for a big 23-11 advantage. Frazier and Ferreira started a 4-0 run for the Spartans before Campbell ended the set at 25-15.

After Frazier put NSU on top by a 6-5 score, a 6-0 run put NSU in a hole, 11-6. Armstead's service ace capped a 6-2 run that made it 16-14 in favor of Campbell, but the Camels ended the set on a 9-1 run. NSU got as close as four points, 13-9, in the third set, but a 10-1 run by Campbell made it 23-10 and put the match out of reach.

The Spartans will return to the court on Tuesday for their home opener against North Carolina A&T at 6 p.m., followed by home contests against Hampton on Wednesday and Coppin State on Friday.