NORFOLK, Va. – Senior Hope Forsythe provided a spark when the Norfolk State volleyball team needed it the most on Friday night at Gill Gymnasium during the start of the MEAC North-South Challenge. Visiting Savannah State rallied late to win the fourth set, but the Spartans came out on fire to take the final set for a 3-2 win.
 
The Tigers won the first set, 25-21, but NSU took the next two, 25-15 and 25-21. Savannah State erased a five-point lead late in the fourth set to triumph 26-24, but the Spartans had little trouble in the fifth, winning 15-7.
 
Forsythe had nine kills during the final two sets and 14 for the match to lead NSU to a win in its home opener. She hit .444 with 21 assists and eight digs, just missing out on her first career triple double.
 
Nevertheless, the senior provided a big boost to a Spartan team that committed 32 hitting errors, 22 unforced, but that also had 50 kills to just 32 for the Tigers. In the end, the Spartans hit .137 while improving to 3-8 on the year.
 
Savannah State fell to 2-10 while hitting .053.
 
The match featured numerous momentum swings, none so more than late in the third set when NSU pulled ahead for a 2-1 lead.
 
The Spartans pulled even in the second set and then went ahead 9-6 in the third. The Tigers won the next four points, but the Spartans later won four straight again and six of seven for a 17-14 edge. SSU called timeout down 20-17 after a service ace from senior Melvina Brown. Then up 21-20, NSU used a block and two errors by the Tigers to get to set serve, and senior Clarke Tyler ended the set with one of her 10 kills on the night to give the Spartans a huge boost.
 
That of course came after they had won the second stanza rather easily. They led 11-4 to start and only really faced one hiccup. After calling timeout still up 17-12, NSU scored seven of the next nine points to put the set away.
 
The Tigers were the first to seize momentum in the match, using a 6-0 run in the middle of the first set for a four-point edge. NSU never got closer than three the rest of the opening set, and Savannah State needed that same momentum swing in the fourth set to keep the match alive.
 
Forsythe did all she could, hitting two service aces for an early 4-0 lead. She was also on serve a little later when the Spartans scored seven straight for a 17-12 edge. Forsythe had six kills in the set on just seven swings, but NSU could not hold back the Tigers late.
 
Down 20-15, SSU won four straight, later tied the score at 22-22, then held off NSU's match serve thanks in part to a kill and block from Tyran Chenault that eventually gave the Tigers the extra-point victory.
 
They were no match for the Spartans in the fifth, however. The Tigers were unable to score two straight until they were already down 13-4. Forsythe and sophomore Daiysa Burrell each had two kills during a huge 7-1 run that put the last stanza out of reach.
 
Norfolk State held a sizeable edge in digs, 62-43, led by 17 from Melvina Brown. She and Tyler each had three service aces as NSU finished with an 11-6 advantage in that category as well.
 
Lexi Brown and freshman Clara Kick each added five blocks, while Tyler had four to help NSU finish with 10 as a team.
 
Freshman Taylor Eichelberger contributed nine kills, and sophomore Jill Aquino posted 18 assists.
 
Chanault led Savannah State with 11 kills and six blocks.
 
NSU will transition to Virginia Beach for Saturday's matches that are part of the MEAC North-South Challenge. The Spartans will play South Carolina State at 11 a.m. and North Carolina A&T at 4 p.m. Both matches will be played at Tidewater Volleyball Center.