Box Score NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State volleyball team gave VCU a run for its money in the second set, but the Spartans eventually succumbed to a very formidable opponent by a 3-0 score Tuesday night in a non-conference match at Joseph Echols Hall.

The Rams won the first and third sets by 25-15 scores, while NSU nearly took the second set before VCU came out on top, 25-23. The win broke NSU's three-match win streak and dropped the Spartans to 5-17 overall. The Rams improved to 17-3 overall.

Senior Charlotte Armstead led all players with 10 kills on the night, while redshirt sophomore Noelle Eagles had a match-high 16 digs. The duo of senior Nicole Kessner and freshman Darcy Moore combined for 23 assists, and senior Beatriz Ferreira had a match-high five blocks.

Kristin Boyd led a balanced VCU attack with nine kills, while Romana Kriskova and Jasmine Waters each added eight kills.

A service ace from senior Goda Jankauskaite made it 5-3 in favor of VCU to start the match, but a 7-2 run by the Rams pushed the advantage to eight a short time later. VCU made it 20-9 after a 4-0 run, and after a couple of errors on the Rams and a service ace from sophomore Adriana Ramos made it 21-13, VCU used kills from Boyd and Waters to end the set.

The Spartans came out strong in the second set, tying the score on six different occasions, the last at 10-10 after a block from Ferreira and Jankauskaite. VCU had to call timeout when the duo blocked another Ram attack to make the score 13-12. After the Rams took a four-point cushion, freshman Jessica Johnson added a pair of kills during a 5-2 Spartan run to cut the deficit to one, 20-19.

Down 23-19, NSU again made a comeback, thanks to a kill and block in successive plays from Ferreira and another kill from Armstead. The latter got NSU to within one, 24-23, but Kriskova ended the Spartan threat after the next serve.

Kills from Jankauskaite and junior Coralie Jarema tied the third set at 8-8 before the Rams began to pull away. VCU used a 5-0 run to push its lead to 16-10. After a kill from Armstead and a service ace from Janksauskaite put the score at 16-12, VCU scored nine of the last 12 points of the match.

Johnson chipped in with seven kills for NSU. Cecilia Aragao posted 33 assists and nine digs for the Rams. VCU hit .319 for the match compared to .116 for NSU.

NSU will dive back into conference play this weekend, facing Delaware State on Friday and UMES on Sunday on the road.