Box Score NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State volleyball team overcame some mistakes on its part but got key plays down the stretch to take care of Coppin State, 3-0, Sunday afternoon in a conference matchup at Joseph Echols Hall.
NSU committed 32 attack errors overall, including 14 in the first set alone that allowed the Eagles to stay in the match. After the Spartans won the first set in extra points, 26-24, they finished the contest with 25-22, 25-23 wins in the final two sets.
The Eagles (4-12, 1-1 MEAC) had 26 kills and hit .052, while the Spartans tallied 44 kills on a .094 attack percentage.
NSU (5-11, 1-1) found itself up 8-6 early in the match thanks to a few errors on Coppin State's part. Sophomore
Jessica Johnson had a pair of kills during a 6-0 run for NSU later on to give the Spartans a 15-10 lead. The Eagles stormed back with a 10-2 run for a two-point lead, but as was the case throughout the match, Norfolk State came up with timely plays to come out ahead.
Kills from Johnson and senior
Coralie Jarema tied it up, and Coppin State committed an error on the serve up by one, 24-23. With the score tied after that miss, sophomore
Angie Darcus and junior
Jasmin Flowers came up with a key block on the right side of the net, and Flowers finished off the first set with a kill for the extra-point win.
Errors on Coppin State allowed NSU to go up by a 6-1 score early in the second. After the Eagles won four straight, the teams traded serves until Coppin State pulled ahead by one, 12-11. The lead went back and forth, and then some on-spot serving by junior
Adriana Ramos keyed a 6-0 run for NSU.
Down by five at that point, the Eagles chipped away at the lead, forcing an NSU timeout in the middle of a 6-2 run. Darcus and sophomore
Janay Frazier, though, put down back-to-back kills to end that threat.
Frazier had five kills in that second set and finished with eight overall. Johnson led all players with 11, and Flowers also joined her in double figures with 10.
NSU had to fight back after falling behind by three points in the third set. Back-to-back kills from senior
Goda Jankauskaite and a service ace from redshirt junior
Noelle Eagles did tie the score at 12-12, after which the teams traded 3-0 runs to again be tied at 15-all.
Ramos again sparked an NSU rally with her serving, as a 6-0 run, capped off by a kill from Johnson, made it 21-16 in favor of the Spartans. The Spartans were forced to call timeout after several attack errors let Coppin State creep back into the set. Tied at 23-23, the Eagles gave NSU those points right back with a couple of errors to finish the match.
Eagles finished with 19 digs, while sophomore
Darcy Moore added nine digs and 40 assists.
Coppin State had a 9-1 advantage in blocks. Nicole Malave led the Eagles with seven kills.
NSU will host Morgan State at Echols Hall on Thursday at 7 p.m. before hitting the road for a week.