WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Norfolk State volleyball team fell twice more on Saturday to Penn and George Mason by 3-0 scores during the final day of the Georgetown Classic at McDonough Arena.
 
The Spartans lost by tallies of 25-21, 25-20 and 25-19 against Penn (2-1) in a morning matchup. Then later in the afternoon, George Mason (2-3) earned the victory via a 25-10, 25-20, 25-12 sweep of NSU.
 
Junior Anna Rupertova added eight kills in the first match against Penn to lead the Spartans (0-4). Sophomore Taylor Eichelberger tallied six kills against George Mason to pace the offense there as well.
 
After finishing with four service aces against host Georgetown yesterday, junior Bojana Bolozan added four more against Penn in the first matchup of the day. Two of those aces came early in the first set when NSU started off with a 6-2 lead. The Quakers scored seven in a row before NSU freshman Kyra Walden had a pair of kills to tie the score at 9-9.
 
Penn pulled ahead, but the Spartans tied it up at 18-all after scoring four straight, the last on a kill from freshman Makenzy Johnson. The Quakers, however, scored the next four points to take the lead for good.
 
Rupertova had a pair of kills early in the second set as NSU again took an early lead, 5-2. And like the first set, Penn pulled ahead thanks to a run behind the serve of Caroline Furrer. The Spartans again tied the score at 9-9, but Penn surged ahead by five as time wore on.
 
NSU got to within two at 19-17 in the middle set before the Quakers had an answer late once more. They also did the same in the third set, one in which NSU led by one. The last of those leads came at 11-10 after kills from Eichelberger and sophomore Jannel Ezeagwu and another ace from Bolozan.
 
But Furrer sparked the Quakers with her serve one more time, and NSU could not make up ground the rest of the way.
 
The Quakers hit .400, with Raven Sulaimon and Margaret Planek combining for 19 kills. Sulaimon also hit .750 in the process. Her teammates Madison Godlstein and Daniela Fornaciari added seven kills and six blocks each.
 
George Mason finished with an attack percentage of .391, with Siron Hardy leading the way with 11 kills. Along with Eichelberger's six-kill performance, Rupertova totaled five kills and a team-high 10 digs.
 
The Patriots made easy work of NSU in the first and third sets, holding leads of 7-0 in the first stanza and 8-1 in the third to set the tone early. The Spartans made it interesting in the second set, forcing a 9-9 tie after a service ace from junior Halley McKnight. They were also within three later on in the set, the last time at 23-20 on a kill from freshman Symone Thomas. It marked the last of four occasions the Spartans were within three, but they could not close the gap any more than that each time.
 
GMU held the Spartans to a .020 attack percentage and carried a 5-0 advantage in blocks. McKnight posted 11 assists, six digs and three service aces for Norfolk State.
 
NSU will host Hampton on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at Gill Gymnasium in a non-conference match and the first home contest of the season.