HAMPTON, Va. – Hampton's rally during the last two sets of the match spoiled the season finale for the Norfolk State volleyball team, as the Pirates came away with a 3-2 conference win over the Spartans on Sunday afternoon at HU's Holland Hall.  
 
Norfolk State won the second and third sets 25-18 and 25-14 to take a 2-1 lead in the match after the Pirates had won the opening set, 25-17. Hampton held back the Spartans in the fourth set to win 25-23 and went on to win the final set, 15-8.
 
The last match in the careers of NSU's seniors saw all four perform well. Hope Forsythe finished off her time at NSU by tallying a career-best 19 kills with six digs, three blocks, three service aces and two assists. Clarke Tyler also joined her in double figures with 10 kills in addition to seven digs and six blocks.
 
Tori Tulensru also set a career high in her final match, posting 20 digs to lead all players. Melvina Brown joined the other three with eight kills, 16 digs, four assists and three blocks.
 
NSU saw its season come to a close at 3-23 overall and 0-12 in the MEAC.
 
The Spartans were able to put the first set behind them, a set in which they led 7-4 to start and still led 15-13 after a service ace from Forsythe. Hampton, though, closed it out on a 12-2 run.
 
The Pirates (12-16, 7-5 MEAC) could not hold the momentum. Freshman Jazmine Craig had three straight service aces as part of a 6-1 start in the second set for the Spartans. Hampton used its second timeout when Craig had a block and a kill on back-to-back plays for a 13-5 edge. The Pirates got to within four several times before Forsythe had two kills and a block late in the set to preserve the seven-point victory.
 
It was rinse and repeat in the third set. Hampton used its first timeout down 7-3 and its second down by the same 13-5 score at the second set. Freshman Jannel Ezeagwu's kill capped that opening run, but Hampton was able to cut the lead all the way to three at 16-13. That was all she wrote as NSU won nine of the last 10 points of the set with Forsythe and Brown hitting two straight kills to close it out.
 
But on its home court for Senior Day, Hampton was not going to be denied. The Pirates turned a 7-4 deficit in the fourth to a 14-9 lead thanks to a 10-2 run. The teams traded points the next 16 serves until the Spartans won four in a row to close the gap to 21-20. After posting two kills in those four points, Forsythe had another kill and a block with Tyler to again get to within one, 24-23.
 
Micah Leavell, however, hit one of her six kills on the day to finish the set for Hampton. The Pirates then methodically pulled away from NSU in the final set.
 
Reeana Richardson totaled 23 kills, 12 digs and four blocks to lead Hampton. Lena Washington added 11 kills, while Kennedy Kenney totaled eight blocks to help the Pirates finish with 15 for the match.
 
NSU committed seven less attack errors but also had 12 less kills. The Spartans hit .196 compared to .207 for the Pirates.
 
Washington and Maja Petronijevic each had 17 digs for Hampton.
 
Craig ended the day with seven digs, six kills and four service aces.
 
Tyler closed out her career seventh all-time at NSU in total blocks with 180 as well as second with 148 block assists. She also finished in the top 15 in NSU annals in kills (eighth, 590), attacks (ninth, 1,673), matches played (11^th, 101), sets played (12^th, 350), solo blocks (15^th, 32) and hitting percentage (15^th, .180). Twice named to an all-tournament team during her career, Tyler also added 162 digs and 57 aces in four years.
 
A sparkplug on the court, Brown played at libero for much of her career and in just two seasons had 637 digs to finish ninth all-time at NSU. In 179 sets over the course of 49 matches, she posted 40 kills, 135 assists, 58 aces and six blocks. Heading into the last match of the year, she ranked seven in the MEAC in aces and eighth in digs. Like Tyler, Brown too also earned all-tournament team accolades twice in her career in addition to a MEAC Defensive Specialist of the Week award last year.
 
Forsythe, who came to NSU in the same class as Tyler, played in 85 matches and 262 total sets during her time with the Spartans. She was a three-time all-tournament team honoree at various tourneys during her career, including the very first one of her career in 2014. Forsythe fell just short of ranking in the NSU top 15 in several categories, tallying totals of 432 kills, 1,263 attacks, 375 digs, 211 assists, 72 blocks and 37 service aces.
 
Tulensru is the last holdover from the 2013 season after redshirting in '15. Like Forsythe, Tulensru also earned all-tournament team honors in the first matches of her career. She played in 275 sets and 89 matches all-together, the latter of which puts her 15^th all-time at NSU. Her career totals included 197 kills, 582 attacks, 355 digs, 37 assists, 31 aces and 26 blocks.
 
The Spartans lose those four players but return everyone else, including six players who made at least six starts this year as well as junior Anna Rupertova, who missed the year due to injury.