Box Score ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Norfolk State volleyball team dropped its season opener as Nebraska-Omaha overcame an early deficit to win 3-1 over the Spartans Friday afternoon at the Kristen Dickmann Invitational at Navy's Wesley A. Brown Field House.

NSU won the first set of the day, 25-18, before the Mavericks came back with a 25-16 second-set win. Nebraska-Omaha snuck by with a 25-23 win in the third and then cruised to a 25-13 fourth-set win for the match victory.

The Mavericks attacked at a solid .248 clip but did not have a distinct advantage anywhere else against the Spartans. NSU, on the other hand, hit .131 for the match.

Freshman Jessica Johnson led the way for the Spartans with 10 kills, while senior Beatriz Ferreira added nine kills on a .318 attack percentage. Redshirt sophomore Noelle Eagles totaled 19 digs, and freshman Darcy Moore posted 31 assists.

NSU jumped out to a 5-2 lead to start the match and stretched it to 8-4 after a block by seniors Charlotte Armstead and Maatra Henderson. The Mavericks tied it up at 10-10 after several Spartan errors, but a short time later NSU went on a 7-0 run to take a commanding lead. NSU called time when Nebraska-Omaha chipped away at that advantage, but Johnson added a pair of kills down the stretch to secure an early 1-0 lead.

Nebraska-Omaha grabbed a 7-2 lead to start the second set, but NSU forced several Maverick errors to get to within one, 9-8. The Mavericks used a pair of 4-0 runs, though, to eventually pull away.

Down 8-5 in the third set, NSU used a 4-0 run, highlighted by a pair of service aces on sophomore Adriana Ramos, to grab a 9-8 lead. Armstead added a kill and a service ace to help NSU hold the lead, but then the teams traded it several times throughout the middle part of the set. Another ace from Ramos gave NSU a 19-18 lead, but the Mavericks scored four of the next five points for a two-point lead.

The Spartans called timeout and immediately tied the score thanks to kills from Moore and junior Coralie Jarema, but Nebraska-Omaha scored the last three points of the set for a 2-1 lead in the match.

The Mavericks scored 12 of the first 16 points of the fourth set. NSU never got the deficit below seven points, and Nebraska-Omaha eventually pushed the lead to double digits to take the match.

Kelly Wollak and Natalie Ebke led the Mavericks with 11 and 10 kills, respectively, while Bailey Baxter added 36 assists and Amy Roberts totaled 17 digs.

NSU will look to get into the win column Saturday when the Spartans face Navy at 11 a.m. and Hartford at 4 p.m.