Box Score NORFOLK, Va. – Howard won its eighth straight match and maintained first place in the MEAC Northern Division with a 3-0 victory over the Norfolk State volleyball team on Friday night at Joseph Echols Hall.
 
The Bison improved to 9-1 in conference play by winning 25-20, 25-20 and 25-19 in the Spartans' second-to-last home match of the season. Howard limited NSU to a .048 attack percentage to drop the Spartans to 2-19 overall and 1-7 in the MEAC. The Bison also evened their overall record at 13-13.
 
Senior Angie Darcus led NSU with 12 kills and added seven digs. Sophomore Clarke Tyler added five kills with five blocks.
 
Howard hit .184 for the evening with seven less attack errors than Norfolk State. Khaila Donaldson added 10 kills to lead all players, with Janaya Hampton (seven kills) and Dominique Cleggett (six kills, five blocks) also chipping in. The duo combined for 13 kills on just 19 swings.
 
It was a tight match in the early going, as two kills and three blocks from senior Janay Frazier helped the Spartans eventually take a 10-8 lead. After Howard called timeout, the Bison won four straight, but NSU answered with four straight a short time later for a 15-13 lead. Clarke and junior Dominique Parker had two blocks during that time, as all six of NSU's blocks in the match came in that first stanza.
 
Howard took over from there, winning nine of the next 10 points, with four of those points coming off service aces. The Spartans did win four of five to get within 23-20 before two errors on NSU finished the set.
 
Of course, NSU turned right around and won six of the first eight points of the second set, capped by a pair of service aces from junior Alex Irizarry. Another ace from senior Darcy Moore made it 11-7 a little later, but again Howard answered with a 7-1 run. The Bison could not pull away, and a kill by Darcus and an error on Howard made it 20-19. They did, however, win five of the last six points to close out the set.
 
Then in the third, the Bison won four straight to erase an early 4-3 deficit. They slowly pulled away as NSU won two points in a row only once throughout the middle part of the set. Several times the Bison answered one Spartan point with two of their own, going up by as much as seven at 24-17 before winning by six.
 
Howard's Morgan Marlbrough finished with 21 digs in the three-set match.
 
NSU will play its last home match of the year and honor three of its departing seniors next Friday against UMES. The contest will begin at 6 p.m. in Gill Gymnasium due to Homecoming activities.