GREENVILLE, N.C. – The Norfolk State volleyball team nearly came away with the victory on Friday afternoon in a matchup of Spartans vs. Spartans. But USC Upstate rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat NSU 3-2 in the first contest of the Pirate Invitational at Williams Arena.
 
A few hours later, George Washington needed its own late rallies to win the first and second sets before pulling away in the third for a 3-0 victory over NSU.
 
The tournament hosted by East Carolina saw the Spartans of Norfolk State pull off a rally themselves in the opening set against USC Upstate. After winning in extra points by a 29-27 margin, NSU (0-8) used a big run to turn the second set to their favor as well, 25-17.
 
USC Upstate (1-6) won the third set 25-18, but the match again tightened up. The teams went back and forth in the fourth set, but NSU dropped four straight serves late as USC Upstate eventually claimed a 26-24 victory. An 11-1 run in the fifth by those same Spartans propelled them to an eventual 15-6 win in the deciding set over NSU.
 
Junior Taylor Eichelberger led the way for Norfolk State with 12 kills on 22 errorless swings, a .545 attack percentage and the most kills by a Spartan player this season. Junior Quiana Griffin added 10 kills, while senior Bojana Bolozan totaled nine kills and tied her career high with seven blocks.
 
Junior Julisa Carrizosa had a career-high 15 digs and four blocks, and freshman Myleah Carter contributed a career-high 19 digs. Thanks in part to four from senior Halley McKnight, the Spartans also had a season-best 11 service aces.
 
The match ultimately turned in the fourth set, with NSU up two to one in the match. The Spartans led 5-2 in the early going after a block from Bolozan and Carrizosa. USC Upstate claimed six of the next seven points, although NSU went back ahead at 11-10 after back-to-back aces from senior Jill Aquino.
 
NSU was ahead by as much as four at 16-12 after a kill and block from Bolozan, but the other Spartans won seven straight to surge back ahead. Still, Norfolk State had one more good chance, as a block from Bolozan and Eichelberger, after two straight aces from sophomore Makenzy Johnson, made it 21-19.
 
Emily Russell helped score four straight for the lead for the other Spartans, and despite Eichelberger keeping NSU alive, USC Upstate secured the last two points to tie the match. Norfolk State scored three in a row to tie the fifth set at 3-3 before USC Upstate's big run completed its comeback in the match.
 
Still, NSU showed heart in the first set, overcoming a late five-point deficit for the early lead in the match. The Spartans lost the first four points of the day and then scored the next five, including two aces from McKnight. They then lost the next four points before again tying the score at 8-8 on an ace from Carter.
 
The teams traded points for a while before USC Upstate moved ahead by five at 20-15 after three straight kills. Norfolk State took the next four points, while the other Spartans committed some untimely errors to keep the set going. Junior Jannel Ezeagwu kept NSU alive with a kill, and Griffin and Carrizosa slammed home two straight for a one-point edge. Eichelberger's kill, followed by an ace from Carrizosa, finished it off.
 
The Spartans sucked the drama out of the second set thanks to a closing 9-1 run that broke a 16-all tie. That came after NSU went ahead 6-2 to start but fell behind by a 9-7 margin. And in the third, USC Upstate slowly exerted control, jumping ahead early and by as much as six in the middle of the set, not allowing NSU to get any closer than three the rest of the way.
 
The Spartans hit .303 in the second set and above .100 in the first and third ones before slowing down in the last two sets. They attacked at a .114 clip overall.
 
For USC Upstate, Russell hit .297 with 15 kills and eight blocks. Gloria Ikenegbu and McKenna Kirkpatrick each had 11 kills for a Spartan team that hit .140. As a team, they also committed just six service errors compared to 15 for NSU.
 
George Washington (3-4), meanwhile, was down by as much as five in the first set and seven in the second set, but both times the Colonials came back to win. They started off down 4-1 as the Spartans jumped out to the quick lead to start the match. GWU took the lead back thanks in part to three straight aces, but NSU won eight of the next 12 points, capped by kills from Eichelberger and senior Anna Rupertova.
 
A little later, the Spartans won four straight points, including a block and kill from Ezeagwu, for a 17-12 advantage. But the Colonials went on a 6-1 run to close the gap, and they also went ahead by one at 21-20. A kill from Bolozan and an ace from Carrizosa made it 22-21 in favor of NSU, but George Washington won four of the last five points of the opening set thanks in part to three kills from Paty Valle.
 
NSU's lead was even more in the second. The Spartans slowly increased their advantage as the set wore on, including a kill and two blocks from Eichelberger and then finally a kill from McKnight. They led 15-8 at that point.
 
But again, the Colonials started the close the gap, scoring two points for every one by NSU and then cutting the deficit to one at 20-19. Kills from Eichelberger and Rupertova still had the Spartans ahead 22-19, but Valle had an answer one more time with two kills and a block. Those came during a 6-0 closing run for George Washington to end the set. The Colonials then went on for the easy third-set victory.
 
Bolozan led NSU against GWU with five kills and three blocks. Ezeagwu and Eichelberger each had three blocks as well, and Carter and McKnight tied for the team lead with 11 digs each. The Spartans hit .104 overall.
 
Valle led the Colonials with 11 kills and three blocks and helped the team hit .269 in the late afternoon contest. Jaimeson Lee totaled 34 assists and 13 digs, and Bella Bowman (14 digs) and Jordan Young (eight kills) also played big roles.
 
NSU faces host East Carolina on Saturday at 1 p.m. for the last non-conference match before the start of MEAC play in two weeks.