Box Score BALTIMORE, Md. – The Norfolk State volleyball team overcame a pesky North Carolina Central squad and won its first match in the MEAC Championship in 13 years in a 3-2 victory over the Eagles Friday night at Coppin State's Physical Education Complex.

The No. 2 seed Spartans had lost nine straight in the tournament dating back to 1999, but the duo of senior Charlotte Armstead and freshman Jessica Johnson each totaled 15 kills to lead the Spartan attack to victory. With the win, NSU set a new Division I record for victories in a season. The Spartans improved to 14-19 overall, while the Eagles fell to 8-22.

NSU advances to face Florida A&M Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in the semifinal round.

North Carolina Central put NSU in an early hole after winning the first set, 25-16. The Spartans survived to win the second set, 26-24, before an anomaly of a third set that saw NSU come out on top, 25-9. The Eagles stayed alive with a 26-24 win in the fourth set, but the Spartans had just enough to win the fifth, 15-12.

Junior Coralie Jarema chipped in with 11 kills and hit .320, helping lead an NSU offense that attacked at a .262 clip on the night. She also added three blocks, jumping ahead of teammate Goda Jankauskaite and setting the school record for block assists in a season.

Also on Friday, freshman setter Darcy Moore added 32 assists and moved past teammate Nicole Kessner for the most assists in a season. Kessner, who had 18 on the night, had owned the previous record of 877 set in 2010.

Christine Anthony, who was named the MEAC Rookie of the Year earlier this week, had three kills for the Eagles early in the last set. A couple of errors on the Spartans put them in an 8-6 hole, but a 6-1 run allowed NSU to reverse fortune. Johnson's kill made it 13-11, and after Anthony added the last of her match-high 18 kills, two attack errors on N.C. Central gave the Spartans the victory.

Anthony also led the Eagles with 14 digs. Kalin Russell had eight blocks, and the Eagles held a 14-6 edge in blocks over the Spartans.

Early in the match, Moore's service ace put NSU up by a 5-4 score, but the Eagles countered with an 8-2 run to stretch their lead to five. The Spartans had to call their second timeout of the first set when they fell behind by seven. NSU got no closer than six the rest of the way as N.C. Central took the early lead.

The second set started in much the same way. The Eagles called timeout when Johnson's service ace made it 8-4 in favor of NSU. Once again, the Eagles countered with an 8-2 run, this time going up by two, 12-10. NSU was thus forced to play catch-up, getting to within one on three separate occasions throughout the middle of the set, the latter at 20-19 on a kill from Jarema.

Johnson's kill tied it at 21-21, and two more kills from the rookie a short time later kept the Spartans alive. After that second one made it 24-23 in favor of N.C. Central, three straight attack errors on the Eagles handed NSU the second set in extra points.

Armstead had a pair of kills during a 5-0 run for NSU to start the third, and Johnson and Jankauskaite each had two kills during a 6-0 run that helped the Spartans take a 14-5 advantage. A kill from senior Beatriz Ferreira pushed the NSU lead into double digits, and sophomore Jasmin Flowers had two straight kills to start a 7-0 run that continued the third-set rout.

The script to the fourth set read much like the first two sets, as NSU went up by three, 5-2, on a service ace from Moore. The Eagles then responded with yet another 8-2 run. N.C. Central extended its lead to four and then five in the middle of the set. Down 20-15, NSU fought back with a 5-0 run, highlighted by two service aces from Moore.

After the Eagles won the next three points, NSU won the next four thanks to a pair of Johnson kills. The Spartans needed just one more point to put the match away, but a service error on NSU followed by two more attack errors kept N.C. Central alive for the fifth set.

Redshirt sophomore Noelle Eagles added 22 digs for NSU and now needs just 11 more to tie the school record of 449 set by April Johnson in 1996.

Moore also added eight digs and four service aces. Flowers had five kills and five blocks, while Jankauskaite tallied seven kills.