Postgame Interviews

NORFOLK, Va. – Led by another strong effort from senior Jessica Johnson, the Norfolk State volleyball team overcame Delaware State on Sunday afternoon in a 3-1 conference victory in Gill Gymnasium.
 
After tallying 20 kills on Friday, Johnson came back to post 18 on Sunday. NSU needed all 18 to get past a pesky DSU team that came into the day winless on the season.
 
The Hornets won by a 25-21 margin in the second set to tie the match at 1-1. NSU, which won the first set 25-19, had a sizeable lead in the third but had to hold off a late DSU rally. The Spartans did just that, winning 25-20 before winning by a more comfortable 25-16 margin in the fourth set.
 
Johnson hit .208 and had twice as many kills as anyone else in the match. Junior Clarke Tyler added nine kills, four blocks and three service aces to complement Johnson. NSU (3-12, 2-2 MEAC) had a 13-4 edge in service aces for the match.
 
Junior Melvina Brown had four in the match, including three in the first set. Tyler had a pair of kills early that started an 8-3 run to start the game, but DSU (0-16, 0-3 MEAC) won seven straight to go up by two. With Brown serving, NSU won five straight, and with the score tied at 13-13, the Spartans slowly pulled away. Brown finished the set with two straight service aces.
 
The second set was very much a back-and-forth affair. DSU won seven of the first nine points, but a later 7-2 run gave the Spartans a short-lived one-point lead. The Hornets took control with a 9-1 run for a seven-point edge and withstood a late NSU rally.
 
Johnson, though, had 10 kills over the last two sets to help NSU put the match away. Tyler had three straight service aces to build a 6-2 lead in the third set. The Spartans called timeout when DSU tied the score at 10-10, but NSU ended that threat with a 12-3 run. Only a late 6-0 run for the Hornets kept the final margin to five.
 
DSU continued the momentum and led the fourth set by a 5-1 margin. The Spartans scored two and sometimes three straight for every point from the Hornets, with Johnson providing a spark exactly when NSU needed it. Freshman Jill Aquino then had three service aces during a 9-0 spurt to help put the final stanza out of DSU's reach.
 
Aquino finished with 38 assists, seven digs, three service aces and two blocks. Brown led NSU with 15 digs.
 
Jenessa Helu led DSU with nine kills, while Jae Jackson added seven kills and six blocks. Alliyah McBean tallied 29 of the team's 49 digs.
 
NSU hit .160 for the match with 46 kills. DSU connected on 36 kills with a .076 attack percentage.
 
NSU will next travel to North Carolina A&T for a non-conference matchup on Tuesday evening.