PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Norfolk State volleyball team suffered a pair of 3-0 defeats Friday in the Robert Morris/Duquesne Invitational, falling to Loyola (Md.) in the morning before another setback to Duquesne in an evening affair.

NSU fell to the Greyhounds to open the tournament, 25-23, 25-14, 25-22, at Robert Morris' Charles L. Sewall Center. Duquesne then made quick work of the Spartans in the nightcap, 25-17, 25-10, 25-7, at the A.J. Palumbo Center.

Juniors Coralie Jarema and Goda Jankauskaite, the latter of whom was making her NSU debut, each had eight blocks against Loyola as NSU held a 13-6 advantage in that category. The Greyhounds, though, hit a solid .216 for the match and had 15 more kills than the Spartans, who hit .111.

Senior Charlotte Armstead had nine kills to lead NSU against the Dukes, who hit a blistering .488 for the match with just five attack errors. Duquesne had an 11-2 advantage in blocks and were led offensively by Allison Foschia and Ashley Buse with 13 and 11 kills, respectively.

NSU fell to 1-4 on the season, while Loyola improved to 3-2 and Duquesne ran its record to 5-1.

Loyola jumped out to a 6-0 lead to start the match and later held a 13-7 advantage before NSU cut the deficit to three. After the Greyhounds went back up by six, NSU reeled off four straight points, capped by a kill from senior Beatriz Ferreira, to get to within two. After the Greyhounds went on a 4-1 run, freshman Darcy Moore's service ace got NSU to within two, 23-21, but Loyola fought back the Spartans to earn the first-set win.

NSU was unable to string together two straight points early in the second set as Loyola raced to a 15-5 lead. A kill from Ferreira and a block by Jankauskaite and Jarema capped a quick 3-0 run for NSU, but Loyola eventually stretched the lead into double digits by the end of the set.

Ferreira helped NSU stake an early lead in the third set, and a little later a 5-1 run, highlighted by a kill and three blocks from Jarema, allowed NSU to tie it up at 10-10. After Loyola took the lead back, Jankauskaite's solo block cut the deficit to one, 17-16, and Armstead's kill tied the set at 21-all. Loyola, though, used a 4-1 run to close the set and the match.

Armstead and Ferreira each had eight kills to lead NSU against Loyola.

In the nightcap, the Spartans used a 6-0 run early in the match to take a three-point lead, although the Dukes had a 4-0 run a short time later to tie the set at 9-9. Down 12-10, the Dukes used a 9-2 run to put some distance between them and the Spartans. Duquesne closed with a 6-2 run to finish out the first set.

A service ace and kill from freshman Jessica Johnson allowed NSU to build a 4-2 lead in the second set, but a 15-2 extended run by Duquesne broke the set wide open. The Dukes cruised from there, going up by a 15-4 score in the third set and eclipsing the Spartans by an eventual 18-point win in that final stanza.

NSU will return to the court Saturday morning to face Robert Morris at 11 a.m., followed by a match against Providence at 3 p.m. at Robert Morris.