NORFOLK, Va. – The Spartans got production from some usual sources, but several new faces stepped up on Saturday during the annual Green vs. Gold volleyball scrimmage at Joseph Echols Hall. Gold swept Green by a 3-0 score to cap the day's Spartan Fan Fest held at the arena.
 
Freshmen Clarke Tyler and Hope Forsythe combined for 19 kills in the three-set match. Sophomore Tori Tulensru, hurt for most of her rookie season last year, tied Tyler for the most kills on the day with 10 while also adding four blocks.
 
Gold won 25-21, 25-19 and 25-19. Forsythe and Tyler each played for Gold, while Tulensru competed for Green.
 
Junior Janay Frazier and senior Adriana Ramos also chipped in for Gold with nine and eight kills, respectively. Frazier added four blocks, while senior Kylee Thiim led Green and all players with five.
 
Gold won a tight first set and overcame deficits in the middle of the second and third sets to earn the win.
 
Thiim had three blocks and a kill to put Green up 4-1 to start the match. Several errors tied up the score, and then Green went up 7-5 on a service error by Gold. From there, neither team had more than a one-point lead until Gold pulled ahead 21-18 on a kill from Frazier. Tulensru twice had kills to pull Green to within one before Frazier had a block and service ace to give Gold the first-set win.
 
A 6-1 run by Green put them up 13-10 partway through the second set. Tyler and Forsythe sparked a Gold rally, as they combined for four kills and a block during a 10-1 run that put them up 20-14. Green never got closer than four during the rest of the second set.
 
Gold seemed to be running away in the third, as a service ace from sophomore Alex Irizarry gave them an 8-1 lead to start the set. After back-to-back service aces from junior Meghan Peji made it 11-4, Green won six of the next seven points, with junior Jessica Johnson scoring five of those points with four kills and a service ace.
 
A short time later, Green scored four straight points, capped by a service ace from junior Angie Darcus, for a 16-14 lead. But thanks to Frazier and freshman Uwem Etuk, Gold won five straight points to go back ahead, 19-16. Forsythe capped off the match with one last kill for the win.
 
Johnson finished with seven kills, two blocks and two service aces. Etuk had four blocks for Gold, while Darcus and sophomores Dominique Parker and Sydney Parker combined for eight blocks for Green.
 
NSU will open its season next Friday against James Madison at 7:30 p.m. as part of the JMU Classic next Friday and Saturday.