Box Score NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State volleyball program honored its five seniors prior to the match with Delaware State on Sunday afternoon and then proceeded to tie the school's Division I record for wins with a 3-1 victory over the Hornets on Senior Day at Joseph Echols Hall.

After a heartbreaking loss on Friday to UMES, the Spartans came out strong against the Hornets, winning the first set 25-18 before Delaware State made NSU sweat a little. The Hornets took the second set, 25-23, and had momentum midway through the third before the Spartans pulled away late, 25-16. NSU followed that up with another 25-16 win in the fourth set.

The win locked up the MEAC Northern Division's No. 2 seed in the conference tournament for the Spartans, who will play next Friday at 7 p.m. in the quarterfinal round against the No. 3 team in the South. NSU finished in a tie with Hampton in the conference standings at 9-3, but the Spartans garnered the No. 2 seed after defeating the Pirates both times in conference play.

The victory also boosted NSU's record to 13-19 overall, tying the 2010 team for the most wins in a season in the Division I era. The Spartans' conference record easily surpassed the previous best MEAC mark of 5-3 in 2010.

Appropriately on Senior Day, one of NSU's most prominent players over the last two decades again led the way, as senior Charlotte Armstead posted 13 kills on a .500 attack percentage. Fellow senior Beatriz Ferreira added 10 kills, while fifth-year senior Nicole Kessner handed out 25 assists.

NSU's other two seniors, Kristen Burt and Maatra Henderson, also got in on the action. Henderson added five digs and three kills, while Burt totaled five assists and three digs in the first set.

The Spartans hit a season-best .320 on the day and got off to a blistering start, hitting .480 in the first set alone. Several different players added kills in the early going, and a pair of service aces from redshirt sophomore Noelle Eagles during a 6-0 run helped the Spartans build a 14-4 advantage. After Delaware State (5-21, 2-10 MEAC) countered with a 9-2 run, kills from sophomore Jasmin Flowers and Armstead made it 20-13, and the teams then traded points the rest of the set.

A service ace from sophomore Adriana Ramos capped a 6-3 run to start the second set for NSU, but a few serves later the Hornets began a 10-2 run that gave them a 14-9 lead. The Spartans clawed back twice, getting to within two, 16-14, and then within one late in the set, 23-22. Armstead added three kills within a four-serve span to help NSU cut the deficit to one, but Delaware State's Jessica Russell-Croucher threw down a pair of kills in between another Armstead kill to keep the Hornets in the match.

The Spartans opened up the third set with a 9-5 lead, as Ferreira and Flowers blocked a Delaware State attack to cap that opening spurt. NSU called timeout during a 6-2 run for the Hornets that tied it at 11-11, but slowly but surely the Spartans pulled away. Armstead and Flowers had back-to-back kills to get things going, and Jankauskaite added four kills in six serves to put NSU up by six. Ahead 21-16, the Spartans won the last four points of the set.

The Spartans' quick pace on serve allowed them to jump out to a 5-0 lead in the fourth. Delaware State had to call timeout when freshman Jessica Johnson capped a 4-0 run with a service ace to push the advantage to nine, 12-3. Flowers had back-to-back kills to finish a 5-0 run and give the Spartans a 17-5 lead a little later. The Hornets chipped away at the deficit, cutting it down to six at one point, 21-15, but NSU won four of the last five points of the set for the season-finale victory.

Jankauskaite added 11 kills and hit .350 for the day, while Flowers and junior Coralie Jarema each chipped in with seven kills. Ramos led all players with 13 digs, while Flowers also had a match-high six blocks.

Croucher-Russell had a double-double of 11 kills and 10 digs for Delaware State. The Spartans limited the Hornets to a .156 attack percentage and had the advantage in service aces, 11-6.

As the No. 2 seed in the MEAC tournament, NSU will play next Friday at 7 p.m. in the quarterfinal round at Coppin State.