Box Score NORFOLK, Va. – Tied at 1-1 in the match and facing a two-point deficit late in the third set, it was do-or-die for the Norfolk State volleyball team against Delaware State on Sunday afternoon at Joseph Echols Hall. But on a Senior Day when the Spartans said goodbye to four players, NSU would not be denied.
 
Down 23-21, NSU received a pair of kills from one of those seniors, Kylee Thiim, as the Spartans won the last four points of the third set. They then pulled away in the fourth for a 3-1 win over the Hornets to put a positive stamp on the 2014 season.
 
The Spartans dug themselves into a hole after DSU cruised through the last half of the first set and won 25-14. NSU got the spark it needed in the second, eventually going up by 10 before winning 25-17. A close third set fell in the Spartans' favor, 25-23, and they were in control throughout the entire fourth set in a 25-18 win.
 
NSU did not outplay DSU, at least according to the stat sheet. The Spartans did benefit from having more swings, as they finished with 15 more kills. They also had to overcome a 14-4 DSU edge in blocks.
 
The Spartans finished the 2014 season 2-22 overall and 2-10 in the MEAC. Delaware State fell to 1-25, 1-0 in conference play.
 
For all the attention on the four seniors, which also included Adriana Ramos, Jasmin Flowers and Noelle Eagles, it was junior Angie Darcus who again led NSU. She finished with her second straight triple-double, tallying 21 assists, 13 digs and 11 kills.
 
Junior Jessica Johnson and sophomore Tori Tulensru each had nine kills for NSU.
 
It was the crucial third set that ultimately pushed the Spartans over the edge. They fell behind by a 7-2 score, but a service ace by Darcus capped a 7-2 run to tie it up at 9-9. NSU called timeout down 16-12 but won five straight after that, capped by a service ace by Ramos.
 
DSU took the lead back by winning three straight, but the Spartans tied it up three different times, the last at 21-21 on a kill by Darcus. A Hornet kill and NSU error made it 23-21, but the Spartans got the ball back on the serve thanks to a service error on Delaware State. Tulensru had a kill sandwiched in between kills by Thiim to push NSU ahead.
 
The Spartans pulled away in the fourth set, going ahead at first by a 10-6 score. NSU had a pair of 3-0 runs, with sophomore Sydney Dailey finishing the last one with a pair of kills. The Spartans won four straight a little later for a 10-point edge, and only a late push by DSU closed the margin to seven at the end.
 
Eagles finished with 17 digs, while Ramos added 15 digs and five kills. Thiim ended her career with six kills, while Flowers added a pair.
 
Norfolk State started off well, as the first set went back and forth early on. Darcus had a service ace and then later a kill to twice put the Spartans up by one, the latter at 13-12. The Hornets, though, closed the set on a 13-1 run for the early lead in the match.
 
It was the same in the second set, as NSU went ahead 4-1 and then 8-3 on a kill by Dailey. After DSU used a timeout, the Spartans continued to roll thanks to an 8-2 run that made it 16-6. Ramos and Tulensru closed the run with three straight kills, and NSU seemed to be in control when Johnson's kill made it 19-9. The Hornets won five straight, but the 10-point deficit was too much for DSU to completely overcome.
 
Jasmine Jackson led the Hornets with 12 kills and 14 digs. Jae Jackson had 10 blocks, while Ariana Stevens added nine blocks. As an offense, DSU hit .135, slightly better than NSU at .132.
 
Eagles ended her career with 1,514 digs, along the way becoming the only NSU player to accumulate 1,000 career digs. She also owns the program records for digs in a match and season. A third-team All-MEAC honoree last year, she finishes with totals of 269 assists, 66 service aces and 12 kills in 109 matches.
 
Thiim, who like Eagles is also a fifth-year senior, led NSU this year with 39 blocks and a .199 attack percentage. She tallied career totals of 91 kills, 54 digs, 52 blocks, 18 assists and 10 service aces in 84 matches.
 
Ramos ended her career sixth all-time at NSU with 753 digs and 10^th in service aces with 114. The team's Rookie of the Year in 2011, she also posted career totals of 284 kills, 83 assists and 12 blocks in 108 matches.
 
Flowers concluded her Spartan career seventh all-time at NSU in block assists with 109 and 15^th in total blocks with 126. She earned the team's Most Improved Player Award as a sophomore, and posted totals of 241 kills, 44 digs, seven assists and four service aces in 88 career matches.