BALTIMORE, Md. – Norfolk State overcame a slow start but was never able to get over the hump, suffering a 3-0 loss to Morgan State on Sunday afternoon in volleyball action at the Hill Field House.
 
The Bears completed a weekend MEAC sweep by defeating NSU 25-15, 25-23 and 26-24. The loss gave NSU a split of its weekend after a win over Coppin State on Friday. The Spartans fell to 2-11 overall and 1-1 in league play.
 
Morgan State, meanwhile, improved to 2-14 overall and 2-0 in the MEAC after taking care of Hampton on Friday. The Bears picked up the win over the Spartans thanks to few errors and a solid offensive attack. MSU hit .290 for the match with just 12 attack errors.
 
The Spartans performed fairly well in defeat, hitting .198 with just one less kill than Morgan State. Senior Jessica Johnson again led the way for NSU, tallying 12 kills with five digs.
 
She had seven kills in the third set alone after NSU had coughed up a five-point lead in the second set. That middle set began with MSU taking four of the first six points before junior Tori Tulensru had a pair of service aces during a 4-0 run for NSU.
 
After the Bears got to within one a little later, the Spartans again won four in a row for a 14-9 edge. Morgan State got a couple of points back, and down 20-17, the Bears won six of the next seven points to pull ahead for good.
 
The Spartans then had to rally in the third set, and rally they did. A kill from sophomore Lexi Brown and a service ace from junior Melvina Brown had the Spartans ahead 7-5, but the Bears scored two and even four in a row for every point scored by the Spartans. But the end of the 14-5 run, NSU found itself down by a 19-12 margin.
 
Behind the serving of Melvina Brown, NSU won the next seven points to tie the score at 19-all. After NSU again fell behind, Johnson had a pair of kills, and an error on MSU tied it up at 24-24. But one last error on the Spartans and a block by the Bears gave them the extra-point win in the final set.
 
That all came on the heels of a first set that started off tied at 5-5. MSU outscored the Spartans 16-6 on the way to the 11-point win.
 
Keana Browne finished the first set with two straight kills and had 15 for the match on a .565 attack percentage with four blocks. Natashia Barker added 11 kills, and Jasmin Hubbard totaled 17 digs.
 
Melvina Brown led NSU with 17 digs, while senior Dominique Parker and junior Clarke Tyler each added seven kills.
 
MSU had a 7-3 edge in blocks.
 
NSU will regroup and play its first home matches of the year next weekend. It will start with UMES on Friday at 6 p.m. and conclude with Delaware State next Sunday at 3 p.m. Both matches will be played at Gill Gymnasium.