Blue Hens Soar Past Hornets, 3-0
NEWARK, Del. - Junior Jessica Croucher led the Delaware State with 11 kills, but Delaware was too much too handle as the Hornets were routed, 0-3 (11-25, 23-25, 13-25) in the Route 1 Rivalry Tuesday evening at UD's Bob Carpenter Center.
Croucher finished the night with a .111 attack percentage in addition to four digs and one block.
Sophomore Edarkis Branch tallied six kills in the loss with seven digs and one block while senior Bel Fakaosi recorded 22 assists and eight digs. Senior Laisha Davis posted three aces in addition to two kills, one dig and two blocks for the Hornets.
In the first set, Blue Hen Katie Hillman collected three straight service aces to give UD a 7-4 lead. The Blue Hens followed with a 7-1 run before finishing on a 9-2 run to take the 25-11 victory over DSU.
The Hornets bounced back in the second set, holding a 16-11 lead at one point. UD would rally and take the lead at 16-18 off of five DSU attack errors. Consecutive kills from Croucher and fellow junior Brooke Redmon brought the Hornets back within one at 23-24 before Delaware took the 23-25 set win.
Delaware State seemed to be lifeless again in the third set, allowing the Blue Hens to take a 10-point run and turn it into a 13-25 set and match victory.
Hillman led UD with 11 kills while Mackenzie Olsen posted 29 assists and Ariel Shonk and Alissa Alker recorded 13 and 11 digs, respectively.
The Blue Hens (6-11) out blocked the Hornets, 10-3 in the match.
For the complete story, visit www.dsuhornets.com
Lady Tigers Fall To USC Upstate
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -Savannah State fell to USC Upstate, 0-3 Tuesday night at Hodge Center in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
The Lady Spartans took a quick first set win, holding SSU to only five points. In the second set, SSU gained some early momentum on a kill from freshman Jasmine Waite that gave the Lady Tigers a 2-0 lead.
After a kill from the Lady Spartans, SSU's Chikia Jones answered with a kill on a set from Ashlee Butler to give the Lady Tigers a 3-1 lead. A kill and error from USC Upstate gave the Lady Tigers a 4-2 lead, but the home team tied the match up at four, moments later.
A 4-0 run from the Lady Spartans gave them the first lead of the second set, 8-4, behind several kills. Keandra Lewis and Jones put down kills to keep SSU in the match. Two service aces from the Lady Spartans extended their lead to 12-7.
Out of a timeout, USC Upstate regained the momentum with another 4-0 run. Bryana Gadis ended the run with a kill on set from Butler. Trailing 17-9, Gadis knocked down a service ace, prompting an USC Upstate timeout as the Lady Tigers trailed by only seven points.
The Lady Spartans continued the push gaining a 22-12 lead on a kill from Shannon Weiss. SSU answered with a kill from Butler. USC Upstate sealed up the set win moments later on a SSU error, taking a 2-0 lead with a 25-15 set win.
In the third set, USC Upstate standout Emily Bingham helped her team jumped out to a quick 3-1 lead, but the tenacious Lady Tigers continued fighting, tying the match up at five behind kills from Waite Lewis, and Brochu.
A kill from Gadis gave SSU a 6-5 lead, and an awarded point extended the Lady Tigers lead to 7-5. The Lady Spartans tied the match at seven moments later and then pushed out to a 17-9 lead on a 10-0 run.
Kills from Gadis and Waite ended the run and cut the home team's lead to only seven points, 17-10. Some costly SSU errors and kills from Bingham gave the Lady Spartans a 22-12 lead.
The Lady Tigers continued to fight getting back-to-back kills from Brochu and Lewis cutting the home teams lead to seven points, at 22-15.
Out of an USC Upstate timeout, the home team reached the match point on two timely kills. A kill from the Lady Spartans Javon Gates sealed up the match win with a 17-25 set win.
Waite led the Lady Tigers with seven kills and six digs, followed shortly by Gadis with six kills and nine digs. Bridgette Stephens led SSU in digs with 13.
For the complete story, visit www.ssuathletics.com
NSU Shocks William & Mary, 3-1
NORFOLK, Va. - In 11 all-time meetings with William & Mary between 1997 and 2008, the Norfolk State volleyball team won just one set combined over the Tribe during that time. Safe to say these aren't those same old Spartans.
NSU survived a first set that went into extra points and then put an end to any hopes of a Tribe comeback in the fourth during a 3-1 victory over William & Mary Tuesday night at Joseph Echols Hall. After dropping 11 in a row earlier this season, the Spartans have now won two straight following perhaps the program's biggest win in the Division I era.
The Spartans survived the first set, 30-28, and then easily defeated the Tribe by a 25-17 margin in the second. William & Mary grabbed momentum with a 25-16 win in the third set, but NSU answered the Tribe point-for-point in the fourth set, eventually won by the Spartans, 25-23.
NSU had been 0-19 all-time against current CAA teams before Tuesday.
But appearances can be deceiving, thanks to NSU's season-high .296 hitting percentage and senior Charlotte Armstead's 20 kills.
Armstead, who became the first NSU player to surpass 1,000 career kills, benefitted from NSU's balanced offensive attack that kept the Tribe from keying in on NSU's best player. Senior Beatriz Ferreira tallied 16 kills and hit .412, while junior Goda Jankauskaite added 11 kills on just 19 swings for NSU (4-16).
William & Mary (10-7) hit.266 for the match and was led by Carolyn Albright with 14 kills on a .542 attack percentage.
Freshman setter Darcy Moore had her second double-double of the season with 51 assists and 14 digs. She finished just three assists off the school record of 54, but as a team NSU did set the school record with 61 assists.
Back-to-back kills from junior Coralie Jarema gave NSU the early lead in the match, but the Tribe came back to take a two-point lead at 9-7. Armstead added four kills within a six-serve span to help NSU take the lead back, 19-16, but the Tribe answered with an immediate 5-0 run.
The Spartans had the answer, though, winning five of the next six points to get to set point at 24-22. After the Tribe answered right back and went up by a 25-24 margin, Ferreira twice laid down kills to keep NSU alive. Jarema and Armstead threw down back-to-back kills to give NSU a one-point lead, and after William & Mary tied it up at 28-all, Moore and Jankauskaite added kills of their own to take the early lead in the match.
Ferreira put down three service aces in a row to cap a 10-3 start to the second set. NSU called timeout after the Tribe cut the deficit to 12-8, but William & Mary was unable to string any runs together and thus still faced a four-point deficit a little later, 18-14. Several errors on the Tribe stretched the lead to eight and put William & Mary in a 2-0 hole for the match. NSU hit .462 during that second stanza.
The Tribe used a 6-2 run in the third set for the early advantage, but Ferreira added two service aces in a row to put the Spartans on top, 12-11. A 6-1 run for the Tribe pushed their lead to four, and then Molly Krull had three straight service aces during a 6-0 run to help force another set.
NSU took an early lead in the fourth but watched it dissipate into a one-point advantage for the Tribe. Ferreira added a pair of kills during a 4-0 run that put the Spartans up, 12-9. NSU had the answer every time William & Mary scored, but eventually the Tribe used a 6-2 run to go up by one, 21-20.
Freshman Jessica Johnson sparked the Spartan offense with a pair of kills to give NSU a 24-22 lead, and after a service error on the Spartans, the Tribe's Julia Swalchick hit one out of bounds for the last point of the evening.
Ferreira finished with six service aces and eight digs. Redshirt sophomore Noelle Eagles had a team-high 17 digs with seven assists, while Jarema added 11 digs and six kills.
For the complete story, visit www.nsuspartans.com