NORFOLK, Va. – Rachel Williams led three Norfolk State players with double-figure kills with 18, helping the Spartans notch a 3-1 win over Temple in NSU's second match of the day Friday at the Towson Tiger Invitational.
Paola Matos posted a career-high 16 kills and
Shonte Seale put down 15 for the Spartans, who dropped the first set 25-21 before winning the next three, 25-22, 25-23, 25-19 to beat Temple for the first time.
Earlier in the day, NSU opened its stay at the Tiger Invitational with a 3-1 loss to Florida Atlantic (25-23, 17-25, 16-25, 20-25).
Against Temple, the Spartans (3-4) hit a season-best .288 with 58 kills against just 13 errors. Temple edged NSU in the first set, but NSU pulled away in both sets two and three to jump in front. Temple led 20-19 in set two before the Spartans closed with a 6-2 spurt, capped by a kill by
Kalaya Brown and a Matos ace, to win a set which featured 18 ties.
The Spartans again rose to the occasion late in the third set to take the lead. Seale put down one kill and Williams had two more, including on set point, to give the Spartans a 25-23 win.
Set four was all NSU. The Spartans, who jumped out to a 10-1 lead to start, hit .421, their best in a set this year, with 18 kills against two errors. Williams recorded six of those kills while Seale and Matos had four apiece in the set. Williams, Seale and Matos combined to hit .336 in the match, with Williams notching her most kills in a Spartan uniform.
Caris Cross matched her season high with 42 assists against Temple.
Nicole Rodriguez posted 21 digs and
Kylah Hunter had a career-high 10. Williams and Seale chipped in eight apiece.
Against FAU, the Spartans won the first set, but dropped the final three and hit just .048 for the match. Seale had four of her team-high 12 kills in the opening set, but FAU took the next three sets behind the play of Christine Jarman, who had a match-high 16 kills.
Seale added 10 digs for her third double-double of the year.
Gracie Teeter contributed six kills, Cross had 25 assists and Rodriguez added 11 digs.
The Spartans conclude their stay at the Tiger Invitational by facing host Towson at 4 p.m. Saturday.
