Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State and Hampton volleyball teams capped the 2012 Spartan Invitational with a shootout, including a huge Spartan rally in the first set, but unfortunately for NSU the Spartans came out on the wrong end of a 3-2 final Saturday night at Joseph Echols Hall.

Earlier in the day, South Carolina State rallied from a 1-0 deficit to defeat NSU, 3-1.

Against the Pirates in a match that began at 8 p.m., things looked bleak early in the first set, as NSU stared down a 19-5 deficit to start off. The Spartans then did their best Jekyll and Hyde impression, rallying all the way back on the heels of a 20-4 run to win that first stanza, 25-23.

The Pirates won the second and third sets, 25-22, 25-23, before the Spartans came back to win the fourth, 25-20. Hampton, though, had too much in the fifth set and won, 15-7, dropping NSU's record to 2-15 on the year. Hampton improved to 9-10 overall, while S.C. State saw its record go to 3-7 after a setback to Texas-Pan American later in the day.

Earlier on Saturday, NSU looked sharp in taking the first set over the Bulldogs, 25-18, in a mid-afternoon matchup. South Carolina State came back to win the next two sets by 25-22 scores before finishing off the Spartans in the fourth set, 25-20.

A pair of Spartan records fell, as senior Charlotte Armstead became the program's all-time leader in kills against South Carolina State. Then against Hampton, redshirt sophomore Noelle Eagles broke her own school record for digs in a match with 31, topping her previous best of 30 set twice in 2010.

NSU got contributions from two unlikely sources in the second match, with freshman Angie Darcus and sophomore Jasmin Flowers each posting a career-high 12 kills. Darcus, in her most productive match to date, also added 14 digs.

Armstead and senior Beatriz Ferreira had 14 and 13 kills, respectively, while freshman Darcy Moore posted a double-double of 43 assists and 10 digs.

Armstead and Ferreira led the charge for NSU against South Carolina State as well, tallying 16 and 15 kills, respectively. Armstead had six in the first set alone, and with her first kill of the second set, became the program's all-time leader in career kills. She passed Kim Mumford, who set the original program record with 937 kills from 1992-95.

Flowers set what was at the time a career high with 10 kills against South Carolina State. Eagles had 14 digs, and Moore just missed on a double-double with 43 assists and nine digs.

Eagles earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team along with Desire Waller of South Carolina State, Krista Kraskura and Vendula Strakova of Hampton, and Nycole Masaki and Maria Kliefoth of Texas-Pan American. Kliefoth earned tournament MVP honors after leading the Broncs to a 3-0 record on the weekend.

Down 19-5 to Hampton in the first set, NSU began to chip away at the lead with a 5-0 run. The Spartans added two more 5-0 runs during the set, aided by numerous attack errors on the Pirates and four kills from Flowers. The Spartans found themselves down 21-20 after that third 5-0 run, and after Darcus added three kills to tie it up at 23-23, junior Goda Jankauskaite and Ferreira threw down a pair of kills to cap an unheard of comeback.

NSU faced an early 7-3 deficit to start the second match, but a 6-1 run, including two kills from Ferreira, put the Spartans on top, 9-8. After Hampton took the lead back, a 5-0 run for NSU gave the Spartans a 17-14 advantage. Armstead made it 21-20 a short time later after Hampton had taken a one-point lead, but the Pirates scored five of the last six points of the set.

The Spartans had to overcome an 8-3 deficit in the third, but a 7-1 run, with two more kills from Darcus thrown in there, put NSU up by a 14-13 margin. Again, a wild finish ensued, as Hampton twice took a three-point lead, the latter at 20-17, before Ferreira put down two kills during a 5-1 run for NSU. Up 22-21, though, the Spartans once again could not finish things as the Pirates won four of the last five points of the set.

NSU's 4-0 run near the start of the fourth set kept the Pirates from extending an early advantage. After a service ace from junior Coralie Jarema gave NSU a 10-8 lead, the Spartans began a 5-0 run a few serves later for a 16-10 lead. The teams traded points for a while, and after Hampton cut the deficit to three, 22-19, Darcus and Armstead each added kills to help NSU force a fifth set.

It was all Hampton in the fifth, as the Pirates took a 9-5 lead and never looked back, hitting .389 for the set but just .168 for the match. On the other side, NSU hit .158 overall. Despite both teams having 29 attack errors, Hampton had 16 blocks to just four for the Spartans.

Kraskura led the Pirates with 21 kills and 16 digs, while Strakova added 18 and 13, respectively. Sonja Maksimovic had 51 assists, nine digs and six blocks, while Mariah Baylor totaled 10 blocks on the night for Hampton. Samantha Sours had a team-leading 21 digs.

Down 5-4 early on in the match against South Carolina State, NSU used a big 9-1 run, sparked by four kills from Ferreira, for a 13-6 lead. Ferreira gave NSU a 14-7 edge after she slammed one of the hardest kills of the tournament off the head of a Bulldog defender. S.C. State then cut the deficit to three, 15-12, but a little later the Spartans threw down four straight kills for a 20-13 advantage. Ferreira and Armstead added kills late in the set to secure the early lead in the match.

NSU had to fight back from a 7-4 deficit in the second set, with Jankauskaite adding three kills as the Spartans eventually went up by one, 13-12. A short time later, the Bulldogs used a 6-1 run for a 20-16 lead, and NSU got no closer than two points the rest of the set.

The teams went back and forth in the third, with Ferreira and Flowers providing some offense early on. A kill from Flowers capped a 4-0 run and put NSU ahead, 15-12. After the Bulldogs called timeout, they immediately went on a 6-0 run for a three-point lead. Kills from Ferreira, Armstead and Jankauskaite tied it up at 21-all, but the Bulldogs had the answer after that point in time.

Then in the fourth set, the Bulldogs turned a 7-6 deficit into a 14-9 advantage thanks to an 8-2 run. Down 21-13, the Spartans clawed back with a 6-1 run, including a kill and service ace from freshman Janay Frazier. Facing a 22-19 deficit after that short outburst, though, the Spartans were unable to mount the full comeback.

Jankauskaite had nine kills against S.C. State., and NSU hit .211 for the match compared to .254 for the Bulldogs. Much like the Hampton match, NSU got out-blocked by S.C. State by a wide margin, 14-6.

Waller had 19 kills and 12 digs to lead the Bulldogs, while Maya Bell totaled nine kills and six digs. Elizabeth Webb led S.C. State with 18 digs, and Taylor Bailey had a team-leading seven blocks.

NSU will begin conference play on the road at Coppin State and Morgan State next Friday and Sunday.