NORFOLK, Va. — Norfolk State took the opening set and led late in the fourth, but Morgan State closed the match on a run to take a 3-1 decision (20-25, 25-20, 25-22, 25-23) in the MEAC opener for both teams Friday night in front of 456 at Gill Gymnasium.
Gabrielle Gilbert led the Spartans with 12 kills, four aces and eight digs for 16.0 points, and Jazeli Vandenburgh anchored the back row with a match-high 20 digs to go with three aces. Jasmine Mataira handed out 28 assists.
Norfolk State (3-10, 0-1 MEAC) hit .120 to Morgan State's .121 and out-blocked the Bears 11.0-7.0, but was out-killed 47-35 and out-aced 12-9. Morgan State (2-11, 1-0 MEAC) picked up its first conference win.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1 (NSU 25-20): Trailing 11-7 after back-to-back Isabelle Brown aces, the Spartans scored five straight to take a 13-12 lead on kills from Briana Ellis and Isis Castille. Gilbert took over from there, serving four consecutive points at 14-14 that included an ace, an Ellis block and a kill of her own for a 17-14 edge. Norfolk State stayed in front the rest of the way, and Gilbert closed the set with back-to-back kills.
Set 2 (MSU 25-20): The Bears jumped ahead 4-1 and built an 11-6 cushion behind three Tyrah Weems kills. Down 20-14, Norfolk State got within two, 20-18, on Gilbert's serve, where she delivered consecutive aces and a Jala Dixon-Kailia Phillips block, but Morgan State answered and finished the set on a Tameary Wardlaw ace.
Set 3 (MSU 25-22): Norfolk State led 16-14 before Morgan State took 10 of the next 11 points, a run that included two more Brown aces and a Michaela Panekova ace, to go up 24-17. The Spartans answered with five in a row, four of them on Morgan State attack errors, but the Bears closed it out. Norfolk State managed just three kills in the set.
Set 4 (MSU 25-23): Kira Devrieze served four straight points to put Morgan State up 8-4, and the Bears led 13-7 before the Spartans turned the set around. Norfolk State scored four in a row to get within 13-11, then four more to grab a 15-14 lead on a Vandenburgh ace and two Morgan State attack errors. A Chisholm block and a Crawford ace pushed the lead to 18-15, and a Gilbert kill and a Moore kill made it 20-16. Morgan State answered with four consecutive points to tie it at 20, and after Norfolk State went back in front 23-22 on a Moore block, Jada Williams ended the match with three straight kills.
SPARTAN STANDOUTS
Dixon recorded five block involvements in three sets, and Ellis hit .571 with four kills on seven swings and two solo blocks across two sets. Kyleigh Moore added six kills, Castille four and Reagan Chisholm three with three block involvements. Catori Crawford chipped in two aces and four digs, and Kaden Sanders posted eight digs.
Jada Williams led all players with 18.5 points on 15 kills and 10 digs. Weems added 10 kills, Tre'Niya Miller hit .545 with eight, and Panekova had eight kills and 13 digs. Brown ran the Morgan State offense with 37 assists and added five aces and 11 digs.
UP NEXT
Norfolk State continues MEAC play at 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 27, when the Spartans host Coppin State in Gill Gymnasium.
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