HAMPTON, Va. – Norfolk State and Hampton played two matches at Neilson-Screen Stadium on Wednesday, and both came down to the decisive set in the final singles match. Hampton came out on top of the first battle, but NSU got its revenge a few hours later, ending the day with a 4-3 road victory.
 
The first of the two matches concluded about 120 hours after the first serve. The bout began on Friday afternoon, with NSU taking the opening doubles point before rain suspended the match during singles play. On Wednesday, both squads resumed where they left off, getting the second match underway after the first finished.
 
The Spartans swept the opening doubles point on Friday to gain a wave of momentum, that could only be slowed by the incoming rainstorms. Aleksandra Evdokimova and Amber Fuller took down Hampton's top doubles pair in dominant 6-0 fashion, while Breana Cook and Laura Ruiz won 6-1 on Court 3. With the point clinched, Andrea Barcenas and Zada McMorris won 6-3 at the No. 2 position for good measure.
 
But when the Spartans resumed play on Wednesday, they couldn't muster the same firepower that they displayed the week prior, at least not immediately. Ruiz was unavailable on Wednesday due to an injury, shaking up the Spartans' lineup as well.

Fuller defeated Milena Amedieva 6-2, 6-4 at No. 2 singles, but Barcenas lost on Court 3 when an injury forced her to retire from the match in the second set. Cook defeated Franzene Tsui 6-1, 6-0 at the No. 4 slot, before Evdokimova lost a three-set marathon bout 1-6, 6-3, 4-6 at the top spot in the lineup.
 
Hampton's Zoe Walker defeated Niya Grant 6-2, 6-1 at on Court 6, leaving the No. 5 singles match as the deciding point. Keri Quillin won the first set 6-2, before McMorris battled back to win the second 6-3. Quillin won the final set 6-2 to give the Pirates the first win of the day.
 
But the Spartans would get even before the end of the evening. NSU once again got off to a strong start in doubles, winning two of the three matches. Barcenas and Cook cruised past Tsui and Quillin 6-0 at the No. 3 position, before Fuller and Evdokimova won the deciding match 6-3 on Court 1.
 
With another 1-0 lead in the Spartans' possession, Fuller quickly increased the cushion with a 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 1 singles. Fuller and Cook went a combined 8-0 across the two matchups with Hampton this week, each winning two doubles and two singles matches.
 
But before Cook could finish out her victory, Tsui defeated Barcenas 6-3, 6-3 on Court 4, Quillin beat Grant 6-1, 6-1 on Court 5, and Walker bested McMorris 6-1, 6-1 on Court 6. Suddenly, the Spartans trailed 3-2 in the match, needing to pull out both of the remaining back-and-forth battles.
 
Cook held off a late surge from Peralta to take the first set 7-6, closing out her match 6-3 in the second. After losing the first set 6-2, Evdokimova won the next 7-6 to force yet another decisive third set. This time the Spartans prevailed, with Evdokimova gaining an edge towards the end of the tiebreak to clinch the 4-3 victory for her squad.
 
The win concluded NSU's regular season, finishing the slate 3-14. The Spartans will have ample time to rest, returning to the court in Cary, North Carolina for the MEAC Tournament on Apr. 28.