NORFOLK, Va. – Norfolk State got its spring volleyball season off on the right foot on Sunday evening at Joseph Echols Hall, picking up a 3-2 win over George Mason in its season opener.
 
Senior Rachel Williams finished with 15 kills and nine digs as the Spartans upset the Patriots of the Atlantic 10 Conference in the second-ever meeting between the two schools. NSU scored three straight points late in the fifth set to stem a huge momentum swing from GMU and come away with the win.
 
The Spartans won through scores of 25-20, 16-25, 25-18, 19-25 and 15-12. George Mason (0-2) fell for the second time during the opening weekend of the NCAA spring season despite having 12 more kills than NSU. The Patriots shot themselves in the foot time and time again to the tune of 36 attack errors, an average of seven points per set that Norfolk State got for free.
 
"I am extremely happy to get the first win under our belt," said head coach Kathy Bullock. "It's the beginning of a new era at NSU, but we still have a long way to go. It was a great way to start the season."
 
Senior Jannel Ezeagwu had six blocks as NSU ended the night with 10 as a team. Freshman Paola Matos (eight kills, nine digs, three blocks) and senior Taylor Eichelberger (seven kills) also provided some offense throughout the match.
 
The Patriots were able to force a fifth set after riding a strong start to a fourth-set win. They led 9-3, only to watch the Spartans win nine of the next 12 points to tie it up. Williams and Eichelberger had five kills during that time, but a 7-1 run late in the set for GMU kept the match alive.
 
The Spartans were headed to the win after winning six of the first eight points of the fifth set. It was still a four-point lead at 10-6 when GMU scored five straight points. But Eichelberger provided some senior leadership following a timeout with three kills during the next five serves to put her team ahead for good.
 
Along with Williams, junior Nicole Rodriguez also made a splash in her NSU debut. She tallied 27 digs, the most by a Spartan player since 2012. Junior Heliceliz Rivera finished with 36 assists, 17 digs, five kills and four blocks.
 
NSU hit better than .200 in the sets it won and .153 overall. The Spartans got their season going by jumping out to a 10-4 lead in the match. After GMU rallied to tie the score at 13-13, the Spartans scored eight of the next 12 points, with six of those eight points coming via errors on the Patriots. Ezeagwu and Eichelberger each had kills to help close out the opening set.
 
As they did in the fourth set, the Patriots had a response in the second set. The big blow came with the scored tied at 13-all, when George Mason rattled off eight straight points to eventually win the set by nine.
 
The Patriots were unable to sustain the momentum, however. Thanks to five GMU errors, NSU scored seven straight for a 12-6 lead in the third set. Ezeagwu had three blocks as the Spartans later stretched their lead to 10. George Mason did close the gap to four at one point before Norfolk State came away with the 2-1 lead in the match.
 
Five players had at least five attack errors for the Patriots, who also had 10 service errors on the night. Peyton Ehmke led all players with 17 kills, and Katelyn Clarke added 11 kills with 13 digs for GMU.
 
Marlanna Bozicevich matched Rodriguez with 27 digs, one of four players for the Patriots with double-digit digs. Despite the 36 attack errors, they still hit .130.
 
Norfolk State will next host VCU on Friday at 4 p.m. at Echols Hall.