PRINCESS ANNE, Md. – Norfolk State rallied to take the second set, but host Maryland Eastern Shore surged ahead late in the third and cruised from there to a 3-1 win over the Spartan volleyball team on Friday night at the W.P. Hytche Athletic Center.
 
The Hawks won the last several points of a tight first set to win 25-19 before NSU came back to tie the match with a 25-21 win in the second. The Spartans let an early lead slip away in falling 25-21 in the third set, and MDES built a double-digit lead to win the last set, 25-14.
 
Only a tough fourth set prevented NSU from hitting on-par with MDES. The Hawks posted a .264 attack percentage with 52 kills. The Spartans hit at least .250 in the first three sets and finished with a .198 percentage with only one more error, but eight fewer kills, than the Hawks.
 
The loss, coupled with Hampton's win over Delaware State, dropped NSU into fifth place in the Northern Division and 4-7 in MEAC play. The Spartans also fell to 6-19 overall. The Spartans can still secure a top-four spot in the MEAC tournament with a victory over Hampton on Sunday.
 
MDES, meanwhile, improved to 9-2 in the conference and 16-12 overall.
 
Both teams got balanced efforts on offense, with a pair of Spartan players reaching double figures in kills. Senior Jessica Johnson posted a team-best 12 kills with 12 digs, while fellow senior Dominique Parker added 10 kills.
 
Rachel Kayongo led all players with a match-high 13 kills for MDES.
 
The match started off as even as it could with plenty of back and forth play. The Spartans had an early two-point lead after back-to-back kills from junior Clarke Tyler. The Hawks won four in a row to take the lead back, and they still led by two until the Spartans won three in a row for a one-point edge at 18-17. MDES, though, won eight of the last nine points of the set for the early lead.
 
The Spartans were all ready to tie the match, going up by as much as eight in the second set. An early 5-1 run, followed later by a 7-1 spurt sparked by Johnson and Tyler, pushed the lead to 17-11. Two straight kills by Parker and another from senior Sydney Dailey made it 21-13, but MDES rallied by winning eight of the next nine points. But a kill, service ace and block from NSU on three straight plays prevented the Hawks from taking the lead.
 
The Spartans were in control at the start of the third, eventually forcing a Hawk timeout with NSU up 9-3. Dailey had a pair of kills late in that run, but MDES turned things around after that. The Hawks tied the set with an 8-2 run, and NSU called timeout after another 9-3 run by MDES pushed the deficit to four. The Spartans did get to within one after a couple of kills from Tyler and Parker, but the Hawks held them off after that.
 
Parker and Dailey combined for nine kills in the third set after Johnson had posted six in the second set alone.
 
That was about all NSU could muster, as Maryland Eastern Shore started the fourth set up 9-4. The Hawks twice won three in a row, followed later by a 5-0 run, to pull away at the end.
 
Dailey finished with nine kills, while Tyler added seven kills on 15 swings with three blocks. In addition, sophomore Lexi Brown tallied six kills and four blocks, and junior Melvina Brown led all players with 17 digs.
 
Mere Serea had nine kills and seven blocks for MDES. The Hawks held only slight edges in blocks (8-6), digs (53-48) and aces (8-5).
 
NSU finishes out the regular season at home on Sunday against Hampton for Senior Day. The match will begin at 3 p.m. from NSU's Gill Gymnasium.