BALTIMORE, Md. – Freshman Taylor Eichelberger and the Norfolk State volleyball team got off to a fast start on Friday night in a MEAC match at Coppin State. Unfortunately for the Spartans, they were unable to maintain that momentum at CSU's Physical Education Complex.
 
Eichelberger tallied a school record 28 kills and hit .460, but CSU overcame an early deficit and used a late second-set rally to build its own momentum in a 3-1 victory over Norfolk State.
 
Behind 10 kills from Eichelberger, who did not start the match, NSU won the first set, 25-14. The Spartans were ahead in the second, but CSU held off set serve twice before going on to win 26-24. The Eagles then took the next two sets by identical 25-20 scores.
 
Eichelberger, meanwhile, topped the previous school record of 26 set by Amanda Johnson on Oct. 17, 2003 against Howard. Eichelberger also added five digs and four blocks, helping the Spartans hit .218 for the night.
 
The Eagles (3-22, 3-5 MEAC) hit .225 despite finishing with eight less kills (50-42) than the Spartans, who fell to 3-19 overall and 0-8 in conference play.
 
Eichelberger had 10 kills in the first set alone, including eight during NSU's 13-5 start. Senior Melvina Brown added a pair to help stretch the lead to 16-7, and freshman Clara Kick later added two straight service aces to close out the set for an 11-point win.
 
Eichelberger added seven more in the second set, which began with the Spartans down by an 8-1 margin. But they battled back. A 9-3 run cut the deficit to one, and Eichelberger helped the Spartans tie the score at 13-13. She helped NSU take its first lead with another kill followed by a CSU error, and she and senior Clarke Tyler blocked an Eagle attack for a 20-18 advantage.
 
She later hit back-to-back kills for a 22-20 lead, and she and Kick blocked another attack for a 24-22 edge. But three errors on NSU and a service ace from CSU's Glorines Rosado accounted for all four points in the 4-0 run for the Eagles that closed out the set in their favor.
 
Despite eight more kills from Eichelberger in the third set, NSU could not keep up. The lead changed hands a few times, the last giving the Spartans a 9-8 advantage. But the Eagles won five straight and later stretched the lead to five at 18-13. Eichelberger had another kill to finish a 5-1 run for NSU that cut the deficit to one, 19-18, but CSU won six of the last eight points to surge ahead one last time.
 
Despite an early 4-1 lead in the fourth, the Spartans could not hold on after the Eagles won five straight. Norfolk State rallied to tie the score at 11-11 after two kills from Brown and a service ace from sophomore Ashley Patterson. They even took the lead at 15-14 before the Eagles used a 6-1 run to jump ahead for good.
 
Brown played more offense than she ever had, completing a double-double with a career-high 11 kills and 12 digs.
 
CSU was led by Asia Stennis, who tallied 13 kills and seven digs. Valiyah Barnes and Bailee Jackson each added eight kills, and Rosado had a match-high 19 digs and three aces.
 
NSU closes out the weekend trip with a match at Morgan State on Sunday at 3 p.m.