NORFOLK, Va. – Morgan State swung momentum back its way when it needed it most, and as a result the Bears topped the Norfolk State volleyball team by a 3-2 score on Sunday afternoon at Gill Gymnasium.
 
In a conference matchup, Morgan State won the first two sets, 25-23 and 25-22, but NSU had a response to prevent a sweep. The Spartans won the next two sets, 25-18 and 25-22, setting up the deciding final points.
 
The Bears, however, scored the first eight of the fifth stanza to pull away for a 15-7 win, taking the contest in the process.
 
NSU (3-12 overall, 0-2 MEAC) wasted a solid performance again from senior Clarke Tyler. She finished with a career-high 19 kills and hit .471, accounting for nearly half of NSU's kills on the day. The Spartans still hit just .074 as a team.
 
Morgan State (2-13, 1-1 MEAC) got 18 kills and six blocks from Keana Browne as well as 21 digs from Jasmin Hubbard. MSU's defense held a 58-37 advantage in digs and a 10-5 edge in blocks over NSU.
 
Senior Melvina Brown and sophomore Ashley Patterson each had six service aces in the match, including two each in the third set when the Spartans finally kept a lead.
 
Brown had two in a row in the early going, and Tyler had three kills in a four-serve span for a 9-4 lead. The Bears called timeout and chipped away at the lead, getting to within one at 12-11 after a couple of errors on the Spartans.
 
Up 15-14, NSU poured it on. With Patterson serving, the Spartans won six in a row to open a seven-point advantage on the way to the eventual seven-point third-set victory.
 
Patterson had three more in the fourth set, and again her serving helped NSU turn the tide.
 
Kills by freshman Clara Kick and Taylor Eichelberger helped the Spartans build an early four-point lead, and NSU still led by four at 12-8 before the Bears won seven of eight. Down 15-13, Patterson had two service aces during a 7-0 run that made it 20-15.
 
Kick and Forsythe teamed up for a block to make it 24-19, and after the Bears won three straight, NSU got another kill from Forsythe to send the match to the final set.
 
Morgan State, though, won the first eight points of the fifth set and was up by as much as 13-4 before it was all said and done.
 
The Bears need a pair of big runs to pull out the first set after the Spartans built an 11-6 lead to start the match. Morgan State scored six straight after that point, but a little later Brown had three service aces and Tyler had three kills all in a row during a 7-0 Spartans run.
 
Norfolk State led 20-15 at that point and was up 22-17 after another kill from Tyler, who had five in the set. Morgan State, though, used several NSU errors to close out the set on an 8-1 run.
 
NSU's 6-4 lead early in the second set evaporated before the Spartans got it back. Brown had another ace when they won four in a row for a 15-12 advantage, but again the Bears fought back. The teams traded points late in the set, but after a kill from Kick made it 22-22, Browne had two kills as MSU won the last three points.
 
In addition to Browne, Natashia Barker added 10 kills, nine digs and five blocks for Morgan State in an all-around solid performance.
 
Kick and Eichelberger each had six kills, and sophomore Jill Aquino totaled 30 assists and 10 digs. Thanks in part to Patterson and Brown, NSU outscored MSU 14-6 in aces. The teams did combine for 36 service errors.
 
The Spartans hit the road next weekend for the next round of conference matches. NSU plays at Maryland Eastern Shore on Friday and then at Delaware State on Sunday.