Box Score PRINCESS ANNE, Md. – The Norfolk State volleyball team gave MEAC-leading UMES a scare on Sunday afternoon, but the Hawks ultimately prevailed in a 3-1 win over the Spartans at the WP Hytche Athletic Center.

UMES won its 17th straight regular season conference match, but it did not come easily. The Hawks won the first set, 25-21, before the Spartans took the second, 26-24. UMES had to rally late in the third set to win, 26-24, before finally taking the match with a win in the fourth set, 25-21.

The Hawks (19-4, 5-0 MEAC) committed 11 service errors and 27 attack errors, hitting .212 for the match. The Spartans (6-18, 3-2) gave away just as many points, attacking at a .168 clip with 24 attack errors and 12 service errors.

Senior Charlotte Armstead led the Spartans with 11 kills on the day, while sophomore Jasmin Flowers and freshman Jessica Johnson each had nine. Junior Goda Jankauskaite added six kills, five blocks and a pair of service aces.

Maline Vaitai had a kill and service ace during a 3-0 run for UMES to put the Hawks up by a 10-6 score to start the match. Senior Nicole Kessner had a pair of service aces, and fellow senior Beatriz Ferreira had back-to-back kills to tie it up at 12-12. The Spartans had to battle back from three down to tie the score again at 19-19 following a 4-1 run. UMES, though, won six of the last eight points of the set.

Back-to-back kills from Ndidi Ibe gave the Hawks an 8-5 lead to start the second set. The Spartans got the deficit to one on a kill and service ace from Jankauskaite but had to call timeout a little later when UMES went up by a 19-15 score. The Spartans turned things around, getting some solid blocking to go up by one, 22-21. After UMES grabbed the lead back, 23-22, Flowers had a pair of kills and a block to rally NSU to the win.

Down early, a 4-0 run by UMES allowed the Hawks to eventually post a three-point advantage, 8-5, in the third set. UMES committed four straight attack errors during a 5-0 Spartan run, forcing the Hawks to have to play catch-up. A block from Vaitai and Ibe tied it up at 17-17, but later two more attack errors from Vaitai gave the Spartans a two-point advantage, 21-19. UMES battled back, though, using a trio of Spartan attack errors to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

The teams went back and forth during the first 15 serves of the fourth set, but three different 3-0 runs gave the Hawks a six-point lead, 17-11. The Hawks stretched it to nine, 22-13, before NSU made a comeback. Armstead had three kills to rally the Spartans, who used a pair of errors on the Hawks and a service ace from sophomore Adriana Ramos to cap an 8-2 run. UMES, though, needed one last kill from Vaitai to finish off NSU.

Kessner had 20 assists and six digs for NSU, while Ferreira posted seven kills.

Saitaua Iosia led all players with 17 kills, 10 digs and four service aces for UMES, while Vaitai added 13 kills, seven digs and four blocks. Jessica Vicic posted a double-double of 47 assists and 10 digs.

UMES had a 12-10 advantage in blocks, with Ibe adding six.

The Spartans will play their last non-conference match of the year Wednesday at North Carolina A&T at 6 p.m.