NORFOLK, Va. – After an early scare by the Spartans, Howard went on to sweep the Norfolk State volleyball team by a 3-0 margin on Friday evening in a MEAC match at Gill Gymnasium.
 
NSU nearly came away with the early lead in the contest, but the division-leading Bison had just enough to win the first set, 28-26. Howard had an easier time from then on out, winning 25-16 and 25-20.
 
The Spartans hit .181 and committed two less errors than the Bison. Howard, on the other side, used an 11-3 advantage in service aces and had 13 more kills on the way to the win.
 
Three different players led the way for NSU with six kills apiece: junior Bojana Bolozan and sophomores Quiana Griffin and Taylor Eichelberger. Bolozan also had three blocks.
 
Jurnee Tipton led Howard (12-9, 5-0) with 14 kills, eight digs and four aces. Kira Porter tallied 11 kills, and Kailyn Williams chipped in with nine.
 
The Spartans pushed the Bison to the edge in the first set, getting to set serve before Howard came back. But first, the Spartans had to overcome a six-point deficit.
 
Griffin had a kill and a block to help the Spartans take an early 5-4 lead. But the Bison won the next three and later six in a row for a 14-8 advantage. Bolozan had five kills on five swings in the first set, and she and three other players had kills to get the score to within two.
 
Howard went back ahead by five, forcing another NSU timeout. The Spartans then won six of the next seven points. Kills by Eichelberger, Bolozan and then sophomore Daiysa Burrell kept NSU going, and an error on the Bison finally put the Spartans ahead, 26-25. Tipton and Porter each had kills, and Tipton ended the set with a service ace to give the Bison the early edge.
 
Bolozan's solo block put the Spartans ahead 7-5 in the second set, and the score was still tied at 12-12 after a kill from junior Anna Rupertova. The Bison won the next four points, and later five in a row, to pull away.
 
The Spartans fought back in the third after Howard won eight of the first 10 points. Three different times NSU won three in a row, the last of those part of a larger 5-1 run that cut Howard's lead to one, 14-13. The Spartans were still within two at 19-17 after kills from Rupertova and junior Jessica Radford, but Howard won the next five points and held off the Spartans at the end.
 
Porter had seven of her 11 kills in the third set. Howard hit .264 for the match. Along with Tipton, Tamia Dockery also had success at the service line with five aces to go with 38 assists.
 
Freshman Makenzy Johnson had a season-high 16 assists for the Spartans. Rupertova finished with five kills as well.
 
NSU will next play in two weeks, on Oct. 26 at Coppin State.