PRINCESS ANNE, Md. – Junior
Anna Rupertova piled up 13 kills for the Norfolk State volleyball team, but Lucia Babic carried Maryland Eastern Shore to a 3-0 win over the Spartans on Friday night in MEAC action.
Rupertova reached double figures for the third time this season and added eight digs in the match at the W.P. Hytche Athletic Center. Babic, however, ended the night with 18 kills as the Hawks won 25-16, 25-21 and 25-18 to improve to 2-0 in the league and 5-11 overall.
The Spartans hit .247 for the match, their second-highest percentage all season, with Rupertova hitting .400. The Hawks committed just six attack errors and finished with a .363 mark. Babic hit .567 and Rachel Kayongo hit .350 with seven kills and six service aces.
Norfolk State fell to 1-12 overall and 0-3 in the MEAC.
It had its most success early in the second set. The Spartans scored four straight at one point to go up 9-6. Rupertova had three kills in the early going, and freshman
Makenzy Johnson added a pair of service aces that made it 12-10 in favor of the Spartans.
The Hawks grabbed the lead back, but NSU got it back again thanks in part to kills from Rupertova and Johnson. Down 16-15 at that point, MDES eventually used an 8-2 run to pull ahead by as much as five.
It was a 10-5 lead for the Hawks in the third set, and the advantage stretch to as much as seven a short time later. The Spartans later got kills from junior
Bojana Bolozan, Rupertova and freshman
Kyra Walden on three straight plays to cut the deficit to 18-15. NSU got no closer.
The Spartans only got as close as 5-5 in the first set after a kill from sophomore
Jannel Ezeagwu. A 10-2 run for the Hawks stretched the lead to eight, and the teams traded points the rest of the way.
Bolozan and sophomore
Taylor Eichelberger contributed five kills each, and Eichelberger had a team-high 11 digs as NSU held a slight edge in the category, 42-39. The Hawks, however, had 11 service aces compared to just four for the Spartans, who were also held to without a block.
NSU closes out the trip at Delaware State on Sunday at 3 p.m.