Box Score NORFOLK, Va. – The duo of Megan Short and Maddie Palmer combined for 23 kills to carry Radford past the Norfolk State volleyball team, 3-0, in a non-conference matchup on Tuesday afternoon at Joseph Echols Hall.
 
NSU's first home match of the season saw the Highlanders use a couple of big runs to take the first set, 25-12, before the Spartans gave them a run for their money in a 25-22 second-set win. Radford finished the sweep with a 25-18 victory in the last set.
 
Palmer tallied 13 kills on a .400 attack percentage with seven digs, two blocks and two service aces. Short hit a blistering .643 with 10 kills and four blocks for Radford (6-4). The Highlanders hit .356 for the match.
 
NSU (1-9) was led by senior Angie Darcus, who finished with 11 kills. Sophomore Clarke Tyler had a solid outing with seven kills and two blocks while hitting .462.
 
The Spartans were able to rebound after a tough first set. NSU first had to slow down the Highlanders after they scored five straight to take a 9-5 lead in the second set. The Spartans called timeout down by five and then began to cut into the deficit. Tyler's kill made it 12-10, and later in the set NSU got to within two again at 16-14 on a service ace by senior Darcy Moore and 18-16 on a kill by sophomore Hope Forsythe.
 
Tyler got the Spartans to within one at 19-18, but kills late in the set by Darcus could still only get NSU to within two points before Radford closed it out.
 
The Spartans overcame a 5-2 deficit in the third set, tying it up at 6-6 thanks to a pair of errors on Radford. Darcus smacked back-to-back kills to start a 4-0 run for NSU, ultimately capped by a kill by Forsythe that made it 12-10 in favor of the Spartans.
 
Radford went on an 8-1 run after that point, and NSU got no closer than four the rest of the way.
 
In the first set, the Spartans trailed by two, 8-6, on a service ace from senior Janay Frazier, but the Highlanders scored six straight for a commanding eight-point lead. NSU scored four points in a five-serve span a short time later, but the Highlanders scored 10 of the last 12 points of the set.
 
NSU hit .124 for the match, although Radford had a sizeable advantage in service aces (9-3) and blocks (9-2). The Spartans posted a 40-36 edge in digs, led by junior Alex Irizarry with 12 and Forsythe with 10.
 
Norfolk State heads to James Madison this weekend for the JMU Invitational.