DOVER, Del. – Norfolk State rallied from a 2-0 deficit to force a fifth and deciding set, but Delaware State came away with a 3-2 win on Sunday afternoon in a MEAC volleyball contest at DSU's Memorial Hall.
 
NSU won 27-25 and 25-20 in the third and fourth sets, respectively, rallying in the third when the Hornets were one point away from a sweep. DSU, though, opened things up with victories in the first two sets, 25-20 and 25-19, and the Hornets pulled away quickly in the fifth set in winning 15-7.
 
Norfolk State finished with more kills than Delaware State, but the Spartans committed several more attack errors, thanks in part to a 10-5 edge in blocks for the Hornets. The Spartans also did not help themselves at the service line, hitting 17 errors compared to just five for DSU.
 
In the end, NSU fell to 3-14 overall and 0-4 in the MEAC.
 
Senior Hope Forsythe had a big match for the Spartans, hitting .368 with a career-high tying 18 kills. Freshman Taylor Eichelberger had the best match of her young career with a season-high 17 kills. Senior Clarke Tyler added 11 as the trio combined for 45 of the team's 55 kills.
 
DSU (1-17 overall, 1-2 MEAC) got 18 kills and 10 digs from Sabina Szmajduch and 10 kills and six blocks from Sydney Armbrister.
 
The turning point for Norfolk State came late in the third set, even after the Spartans had led by two in the early going. They were down by three late and then down 24-23 after one of their 17 service errors. Eichelberger had a kill and Tyler had a service ace to keep the set alive, and Eichelberger and Forsythe had back-to-back kills to break a 25-25 tie.
 
The momentum carried over to the fourth set, where the Spartans won five in a row to build a 6-3 lead. Forsythe and freshman Clara Kick each had a kill and a block a little later to extend the advantage to 12-7. The Hornets twice closed the gap to one, the last at 19-18. Eichelberger had three more kills to keep the Spartans ahead to the end.
 
That was about all they could muster, as DSU won eight of the first nine points of the fifth set to essentially put the last stanza out of reach. The lead reached as much as 10 toward the end. Seven of DSU's 15 points in the set came off Spartan attack errors.
 
The first set was close throughout, although runs of 5-0 and 5-2 for the Hornets ultimately played a big part in them pulling ahead. In the second, the Spartans fell behind by four, and they were never able to get any closer than one after that.
 
Senior Melvina Brown added 21 digs, and sophomore Jill Aquino piled up 48 assists for the Spartans.
 
On the other side, Kiera Holtzclaw joined Armbrister in tallying six blocks. Alliyah McBean led all players with 23 digs.
 
NSU hit .130 compared to a .188 attack percentage for the Hornets.
 
The Spartans compete at William & Mary on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in their last non-conference match of the season.