Volleyball MEAC Media Relations

SPARTANS DROP TWO MATCHES AT UMES TOURNEY

Norfolk State dropped its final two matches of the 2007 Comfort Inn Classic at the W.P. Hytche Center on the campus of Maryland Eastern Shore. The Spartans lost 3-1 (30-17, 33-31, 30-28, 30-21) to St. Francis and then dropped a 3-0 decision (30-24, 30-18, 30-16) to host UMES.

For St. Francis (3-13), Shirley Miller hit .351 with 16 kills and three aces. Kristen Buter had 11 kills and nine digs, and Alexa Ebert had 23 assists and six digs.

Vanessa Faircloth and Yolanda Roberts led the Spartans (3-17) with 10 kills each. Faircloth hit .350 with a pair of service aces, solo blocks, and digs. Abaina Farrell had a match-high 15 digs and Heather Quinn and Chantel Cherry each recorded eight kills.

Against UMES (13-3), Cherry paced the Spartans with nine kills and added two blocks (one solo). Faircloth and Shardonay Blueford tallied seven kills apiece and Solange Honore dished out 25 assists and had four aces.

Whitney Johnson led the Hawks with 15 kills and Adora Luster hit .647 with 11 kills and no errors. The Hawks had 48 kills for the match and hit .433 as a team.

NSU opens conference play on Tuesday when South Carolina State makes the trip to Echols Hall for a 7 p.m. match.