NSU Battles Back but Falls Short at William & Mary, 3-1 (photo courtesy of NSUSpartans.com)
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The Norfolk State volleyball team put a slow start in the rearview mirror on Saturday evening at Kaplan Arena and gave host William & Mary all it could handle in a 3-1 loss to the Tribe.
NSU could not get going early on in the last matchup of the Tribe Invitational, falling 25-9 in the first set. The Spartans stormed back, though, winning the second set by a 25-23 margin. William & Mary had to battle late in the next two sets and won both by 25-23 scores to finish the win.
Senior Angie Darcus again led the Spartans, tallying her third straight double-double with 17 kills and 13 digs. She earned all-tournament team honors in the process. Sophomore Clarke Tyler added nine kills and hit .250 for the match, although the Spartans posted just a .036 attack percentage overall.
Dessi Koleva (14 kills, .462 attack percentage, 20 digs) and Sydney Biniak (11 kills, .333 hitting percentage) provided plenty of offense for the Tribe. William & Mary (2-1) hit .221 for the match and also held an 11-2 advantage in blocks.
Much like NSU’s opening match on Friday, it was night and day when it came to the second set.
Kills from senior Janay Frazier and junior Sydney Dailey twice gave NSU early one-point leads in the second. The Spartans led again at 9-8 after a kill by Darcus and an error on the Tribe. William & Mary pulled ahead, and a kill and block made it 19-14 in its favor. Darcus, though, had a kill and a block as NSU won four straight to force a Tribe timeout.
The Spartans got to within a point on four separate occasions, and then Darcus tied it at 22-all with her fourth kill of the set. Tied again at 23-23, Frazier’s kill put NSU ahead, and the Tribe hit one out of bounds to give the Spartans the second set victory.
The two squads went back and forth early in the third set before NSU extended its lead to four thanks to a pair of errors on the Tribe and then finally a kill by Frazier. Darcus had four kills and a service ace during a six-serve span to help NSU build that lead.
A service ace by junior Dominique Parker and two more kills from Darcus kept NSU ahead as William & Mary stayed just a point or two behind. After Dailey’s kill made it 21-19, the Tribe tied it up three times before a block gave them a 24-23 lead. A service ace then rescued William & Mary from falling behind by a 2-1 deficit.
Darcus had eight kills in that third stanza.
The Spartans called timeout during a 6-0 run by the Tribe early in the fourth set. NSU battled back from that six-point deficit, eventually forcing a Tribe timeout after scoring five straight to make it 11-10. Parker had three service aces – six for the match – as the run eventually reached 6-0. Back-to-back kills by Tyler then put the Spartans ahead by two, 15-13.
The Tribe scored three straight a short time later to take the lead. The Spartans battled back to tie it at 20-20 on a service ace by Parker and then take the lead thanks to Darcus. Two errors on NSU and a William & Mary kill gave the Tribe the lead back at 23-21. The two squads traded points over the last four serves to end the match.
Senior Darcy Moore posted 34 assists and 16 digs, while Dailey (10) and junior Alex Irizarry (13) also reached double figures in digs.
NSU will travel to North Carolina to take part in the Campbell Invitational next Friday and Saturday.
Originally posted on NSUSpartans.com | Used with Permission
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