NORFOLK, Va. – Several times on Wednesday night at Gill Gymnasium, the Norfolk State volleyball team had American University on its heels. The Spartans showed plenty of resolve, but the Eagles came away with a 3-0 victory in a non-conference match.
 
American needed late runs in the first and third sets to pull ahead for good against the Spartans. The Eagles won 25-18 in the first and 25-19 in the third. They surged ahead in the second on the way to a 25-13 victory and an eventual sweep.
 
The Spartans (0-6) had momentum several times on the night, including early in the first set when they overcame a deficit to go up by three. Junior Julisa Carrizosa had a pair of kills during a 7-2 run that made it 9-6. Even after falling behind by two, NSU capitalized again, tying the score at 14-14 after another kill from Carrizosa.
 
But American (4-3) went ahead from there, including a 5-0 run late in the set that pushed its lead to seven.
 
The Spartans made the Eagles sweat it out in the third set as well. Sophomore Kyra Walden had a solo block as NSU tied the set at 7-7. American looked to be in control after scoring six straight, but the Spartans took six of the next seven points. Junior Quiana Griffin had three kills and a block during that time, and senior Halley McKnight had a pair of service aces to make it 15-14 in favor of the Eagles.
 
After the Spartans cut the deficit to two on an ace from senior Bojana Bolozan, American won four straight in the final stretch.
 
In between the first and third sets, the Eagles turned the second to their favor thanks to a 9-0 run. They scored five in a row later on to go up by as much as 13.
 
Griffin finished with five kills for the Spartans. They held a slight edge in blocks, 4-3.
 
American was led by Olivia Wassner with eight kills on 12 swings. Three other players ended the evening with six kills, and Chaira Bosetti had six of the team's 13 service aces on the night. The Eagles hit .267, although they committed 11 service errors to just four for NSU.
 
Norfolk State will head to East Carolina for three matches this weekend, including contests against USC Upstate and George Washington on Friday and the host Pirates on Saturday.