Box Score NORFOLK, Va. – Bethune-Cookman put a scare into the Norfolk State volleyball team in a night match on Friday the 13th, but the Spartans overcame some early deficits to defeat the Wildcats, 3-0, at Joseph Echols Hall during the second day of the Spartan Classic.

NSU was down by as much as five in the first set and 11 in the second, but each time the Spartan offense caught fire late in the set. The duo of sophomores Jessica Johnson and Angie Darcus played a big part in that.

Johnson posted 14 kills, while Darcus added 12 on a .393 attack percentage. They both came up with big kills late in those first two sets to keep the Spartans from falling into an early hole. NSU won the match, 25-21, 27-25, 25-23.

Norfolk State improved to 3-6 overall on the year, while Bethune-Cookman fell to 1-6.

Nothing exemplified NSU's play quite like the second set. The Wildcats jumped out to a 14-3 lead and essentially looked like they were on pace to tie the match at 1-1. NSU, though, started its comeback at that point. Back-to-back service aces from junior Adriana Ramos got things going, and Darcus capped a 10-3 run later in the set with a kill to cut the deficit to three, 19-16.

Johnson finished a 6-2 run with a kill to tie it up at 22-22, but the Wildcats won the next two points for a 24-22 lead. A kill from Johnson and two attack errors on Delicia Pierre allowed NSU to stave off set-serve, and then another error on B-CU and a kill from Darcus allowed the Spartans to escape in extra points.

Despite those late mistakes, Pierre was the player of the match. She tallied 20 kills for B-CU on a .459 attack percentage with eight digs. No other Wildcat had more than seven kills.

The first set saw NSU stake itself to an 8-5 advantage, but a 7-1 Bethune-Cookman run ended that Spartan lead. After falling behind 17-12, Norfolk State made its first comeback of the night. Three straight service aces from Ramos during a 5-0 run got things started, and several errors on the Wildcats put NSU up, 22-19. Darcus added two kills in the closing stretch to finish the opening stanza.

Pierre had eight kills in the third set, but Darcus was just as strong with seven kills, and no attack errors, on 11 attempts. Neither team could get much going early on until kills from Darcus and sophomore Janay Frazier helped NSU take a 12-10 lead. NSU fell behind, took the lead back, and then fell behind again, this time at18-16. Darcus then threw down three straight kills to give NSU the lead right back.

A kill from senior Goda Jankauskaite and an error on B-CU made it 23-21 in favor of the Spartans. After Pierre's kill got the Wildcats to within one, 24-23, B-CU's ensuing service attempt sailed out of bounds for the final scoring of the night.

Ramos had five service aces in the match, while setter Darcy Moore tallied 35 assists and eight digs.

Aria Cormier had five kills and seven blocks for B-CU, which held a 10-2 advantage in blocks overall.

NSU will play the final match of the tournament tomorrow at 6 p.m. against UMES. B-CU will play UMES at 11 a.m. and Charlotte at 3 p.m. as well in the other two matches on Saturday.