NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State volleyball team took the early lead in a MEAC match early Sunday afternoon at Gill Gymnasium, but North Carolina Central came back to top the Spartans by a 3-1 margin.
 
NSU was victorious in the first set, 25-23, but the Eagles stormed back to win the next two sets, 25-13 and 25-19. The Spartans rallied late in the fourth before falling one last time, 25-21.
 
The loss dropped NSU to 1-18 overall and 1-8 in the league. NCCU improved to 5-5 in the MEAC as well as 6-20 overall.
 
The match ended on some controversy, and just as things got interesting. NSU was called for what many in the gym screamed was a questionable tip on an attack by NCCU that turned an error into a kill for the Eagles. That it came on the last point of the afternoon just as the Spartans were making one last push made it all the worse.
 
The loss overshadowed a strong showing from senior Bojana Bolozan, who had her best match of the season with 11 kills and seven blocks. Junior Quiana Griffin tallied eight kills as well for the Spartan offense.
 
The nearly two-hour long match started off well for NSU, as they made a late push for the early 1-0 lead. The Spartans were up 7-4 to start, and kills from several different players as the set wore on kept N.C. Central from taking the lead. But after a kill from Spartan senior Jessica Radford, the Eagles finally did.
 
They scored four in a row for a 21-20 advantage, forcing an NSU timeout. The Spartans were still down by one at 23-22 before two straight kills from Bolozan and an error on the Eagles gave NSU the set.
 
The second set easily went NCCU's way, at first thanks to a 15-3 run and later an 8-1 run to close out the stanza. The Eagles were also up 9-3 in the third, although junior Julisa Carrizosa had two kills and a block to help NSU get to within one at 11-10. The Eagles pushed the lead back up to six, but they later committed a couple of errors to help the Spartans close the gap to 22-19. NCCU won the last three points, however.
 
The fourth set was where it got really tense. NSU won four of the first five points and maintained the lead until the Eagles won four in a row for a 16-13 advantage. A service ace from McKnight made it just 19-17 in favor of NCCU, although the Eagles later went up 24-19. Griffin and Carrizosa each had kills before the Eagles' Christine Alcox hit one down the line that was originally ruled out before the call was reversed.
 
The Spartans shot themselves in the foot numerous times to the tune of 30 attack errors and 14 service errors. They hit .072 overall, .200 in the first set alone, compared to .196 for the Eagles. NCCU finished with just four more kills than NSU for the afternoon.
 
Thanks in part to Bolozan and McKnight, Norfolk State held a 9.5-5.0 edge in blocks. McKnight had four along with 19 assists, 13 digs, three aces and three kills. Freshman Myleah Carter contributed 21 digs as well.
 
For NCCU, Arlanda Faulkner (11 kills) and McKayla Young and Alcox (10 each) led the way on offense. Celene Morris handed out 38 assists with eight digs, and Yomaries Villegas led all players with 22 digs.
 
The Spartans will make their last road trip of the year next weekend to both Coppin State and Morgan State.