NORFOLK, Va. – Despite a very up-and-down match, the Norfolk State volleyball team was able to walk away with a 3-2 win over Delaware State on Sunday afternoon at Gill Gymnasium in NSU's last home match of the 2018 season.
 
The Spartans had their good moments and their bad ones, which included falling into a 2-1 hole before winning the last two sets of the match. DSU won sets 1 and 3 by scores of 25-22 and 25-15, respectively, while NSU needed extra points to win the second set, 27-25.
 
But when the Spartans needed to get something going, they did just that, winning the fourth set 25-18 and the fifth 15-9. With the win, they improved to 4-16 overall as well as 3-6 in the MEAC.
 
Four players finished with double-digit kills for the Spartans, with junior Anna Rupertova leading the way with 15 kills and nine digs. She was not alone, however, in posting big numbers, as fellow junior Bojana Bolozan added 14 kills with four blocks while hitting .444.
 
Sophomore Jannel Ezeagwu set a new career high with 12 kills to go with three blocks, and sophomore Taylor Eichelberger finished with a double-double of 10 kills and 11 digs.
 
NSU hit .198, only slightly below DSU's .201 attack percentage for the match. The Hornets (2-25, 0-8 MEAC), however, struggled in the sets they lost while hitting at least .350 in the two they won.
 
The comeback began right away in the fourth set. Sparked by Rupertova, the Spartans won six of the first seven points of the set. They led 14-10 after a service ace from Bolozan, but the Hornets recovered to get to within 15-14. But the Spartans won the next three points and then later four in a row, with Eichelberger landing a pair of kills late in the set to keep NSU alive.
 
DSU got the first two points of the fifth set, but Norfolk State won six of seven after that for a three-point edge. The Hornets called timeout after a couple of errors extended NSU's lead to 9-5. The Spartans later won four of the last five points of the match.
 
Norfolk State held on to win the second set, but not without a little bit of drama. It all began with the Spartans up 8-3, including a couple of kills from Bolozan. But a little later, a 6-1 run by the Hornets nearly erased NSU's six-point lead. After a little back and forth action, the Spartans pulled ahead by four at 22-18.
 
A kill from Rupertova made it 24-20, but the Hornets won the next four points to stay alive. Bolozan hit a pair of kills to keep NSU ahead, and an error on DSU kept the Spartans from a 2-0 hole.
 
The Spartans fell into the early hole after a 6-1 run by Delaware State broke a 7-7 tie in the first set. NSU got to within two a couple of times, including at 17-15 after kills from freshman Kyra Walden and Rupertova. The Spartans later called timeout down 21-16, got to within two again thanks to kills from Ezeagwu and junior Daiysa Burrell, and then fell behind 24-19.
 
Eichelberger and Bolozan had kills, and junior Halley McKnight also added a service ace to make it 24-22 before DSU's Caroline Rakoski ended things with her fifth kills of the set.
 
Teammate Devin Ruble had six in the first set and 16 for the day. She also tallied 16 digs, one of four players to reach double figures for DSU. Rakoski, meanwhile, hit .385 with 19 kills.
 
Rakoski also had five in the third set, one in which the Spartans fell behind by 5-2 and later 13-6. The Hornet advantage stretched to as much as 12 before NSU won a few points late in the set.
 
Along with Eichelberger, McKnight also had a double-double of a career-high 28 assists and 10 digs with three aces. Freshman Brenna Ankrum also set a career high after tallying 14 digs.
 
Nia Scott (18 digs) and Milexa Cardona (46 assists, 11 digs) made significant contributions for DSU as well.
 
NSU closes out its season on Friday night on the road at division leading Howard at 6 p.m.