Box Score VILLANOVA, Pa. – Down 2-0, Penn found its offensive touch and overcame that early deficit to defeat the Norfolk State volleyball team, 3-2, at the Villanova Classic on Friday afternoon.

The Quakers hit a combined .435 in the last three sets and .299 overall, winning those last three stanzas, 25-16, 25-18, and 15-10. NSU won the first two, 25-23 and 26-24, at Villanova's Jake Nevin Field House before Penn struck back.

The Spartans (4-8) were forced to make their own comebacks to take a 2-0 lead in the match. NSU called timeout down 11-8 in the first, and then sophomore Angie Darcus put down a pair of kills to cap a 5-1 run that gave the Spartans a one-point lead. Another 5-1 run put NSU up by three, and then Penn called timeout down by four, 22-18, after senior Goda Jankauskaite and sophomore Jessica Johnson threw down kills.

The Quakers came back to tie it up at 23-23, but two straight attack errors on Penn gave NSU the first set.

NSU called timeout early in the second set after falling behind by a 7-4 score. After the Spartans chipped away and went up by one, Penn took the lead back at 16-13. NSU responded by winning four straight, but Penn answered and grabbed the lead back. Down by two at 21-19, the Spartans used their second timeout of the set and then got kills from five different players to win in extra points.

Johnson led NSU with 14 kills and also added 10 digs. Jankauskaite and Darcus each had 12 kills for an offense that hit a respectable .191.

Penn (4-4) continuously put together short scoring bursts in its comeback, highlighted by a 9-0 run early in the third set that had the Spartans playing catch-up the entire time. Runs of 4-0 and 5-1 eventually gave the Quakers a 10-point lead, and they went on to win the third set by nine.

The Quakers took a 6-2 lead in the fourth, and pushed it to five at 12-7 after a kill from Jasmine DeSilva. Kills from Darcus and junior Jasmin Flowers got the Spartans to within three, but an 8-2 run by Penn pushed its lead to nine and out of reach from NSU.

In the fifth set, the two teams traded points before Penn won three straight for a 7-4 advantage. Senior Coralie Jarema followed with a kill and service ace, but the Quakers slowly pulled away as the set wore on to come away victorious.

Jarema had nine kills, and no errors, while hitting .409. Sophomore Janay Frazier reached double-digit kills with 11, while sophomore Darcy Moore added 49 assists and nine digs.

Kristen Etterbeek had 15 kills to lead Penn. Susan Stuecheli added 12 kills on a .455 attack percentage with six blocks. DeSilva posted 11 kills and nine digs, and Alexis Genske led all players with 19 digs.

The Quakers had a 10-4 advantage in blocks.

NSU will look to rebound on Saturday against host Villanova at 11 a.m. and Sacred Heart at 4:30 p.m.