Box Score NORFOLK, Va. – Bolstered by an enthusiastic crowd and an all-around team performance, the Norfolk State volleyball team earned its first win of the year with a 3-1 victory over Morgan State on Friday night at Joseph Echols Hall.
It certainly did not start off well for NSU, though, as Morgan State cruised in the first set, 25-14. The Spartans picked it up from there, racing out to an early lead in the second set and then holding off a late MSU rally for a 25-23 win.
The Spartans held back the Bears late in the next two sets as well, winning the third and fourth stanzas by identical 25-22 scores.
NSU moved to 1-19 overall and 1-7 in the MEAC. Morgan State dropped to 11-10 overall and 4-4 in conference play.
No Spartan player reached double digits in kills, but five players did have at least six on the night. Junior
Jessica Johnson, out the last several matches due to injury, had a bounce-back match with nine kills, tying freshman
Clarke Tyler for the team lead against the Bears.
After hitting in the negative in the first set, NSU jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the second set, capped by a kill from junior
Angie Darcus. She had a service ace a short time later during a 7-1 burst that put the Spartans up by a 13-7 score.
Another ace by sophomore
Kayla Cason finished a 5-1 run for an 18-10 lead, but the Bears bounced back to make things interesting. They scored four straight after that Spartan run, and then won five of six points late in the set to make it 23-22. NSU called timeout and then benefitted from an MSU service error, and senior
Kylee Thiim put down one last kill for the second-set victory.
The third set proved to be much tighter, as the teams went back and forth for a good portion of the stanza. The Spartans picked up their first lead at 10-9 on an ace by senior
Adriana Ramos, and after calling timeout down by one, NSU won four straight for a 19-16 edge.
Thiim and Johnson blocked an MSU attack for a 23-19 lead, forcing the Bears to call timeout. The Spartans, in return, called timeout two plays later after the Bears cut it to 23-21. And just like the second set, NSU benefitted from an MSU error, and Thiim ended the set with another kill.
The Spartans jumped ahead 5-0 in the fourth, and a kill from junior
Janay Frazier made it 12-5 in favor of NSU. The Bears responded with a 6-1 run but then fell behind by five, 20-15, calling timeout after that point. The short break worked, as MSU won six of the next eight points to again make the Spartans sweat.
With NSU up 22-21, the teams traded service errors, and a kill from sophomore
Tori Tulensru and another error on the Bears finished off the match.
Darcus added seven kills, 22 assists and four blocks, while Thiim contributed seven kills on just 11 swings with three blocks. As an offense, NSU hit .122 compared to .160 for MSU.
The Bears were led by Zuri Smith with 13 kills and Dinah Jones with seven kills and seven blocks. Jones, though, had five blocking errors, as the teams combined for 15 on the night.
Morgan State had a 40-27 edge in digs, while Norfolk State held a 10-2 advantage in service aces.
The Spartans will stay home for the weekend when they host Coppin State on Sunday at 3 p.m. at Echols Hall.
