Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 USAF ACADEMY, Colo. – A difficult trip out west proved just that on the first day of the Air Force/Colorado Invitational, as the Norfolk State volleyball team dropped a pair of 3-0 matches to Washington State and Air Force Friday at the United States Air Force Academy.

Washington State pulled off the sweep, 25-14, 25-15, 25-13, to improve to 8-2 overall in an early afternoon match at Falcon Court at East Gym. In the last contest of the day, Air Force ran its record to 5-7 with a 25-11, 25-19, 25-14 victory over the Spartans, dropping NSU to 2-10 overall.

Freshman Jessica Johnson had eight kills to lead NSU against Washington State and then seven against Air Force. Senior Charlotte Armstead tallied six kills against the Cougars and led the Spartans in the nightcap with eight. Junior Goda Jankauskaite knocked down eight kills in the latter match, while freshman Darcy Moore posted a combined 45 assists over the two matches.

Junior Coralie Jarema had a block and a service ace to help tie the score early in the first set, and after the Cougars took a five-point lead, NSU got back to within two, 11-9. Jankauskaite and Johnson threw down back-to-back kills for a 14-12 Washington State lead, but the Cougars used an 11-2 run to end the set.

Washington State started the second set with a 9-1 lead and then traded points with NSU until three straight errors on the Cougars made it 18-12. The Spartans got no closer than 21-14 on Moore's service ace before Washington State breezed to the third set.

There, the Cougars started on a 9-2 run and pushed the lead to 10, 14-4. The Cougars never let the lead slip into single digits the rest of the way.

Jaicee Harris had 13 kills to lead the Cougars, and Camryn Irwin tallied 29 assists. Washington State had an 11-5 advantage in blocks and held NSU to a negative hitting percentage.

In the night match with Air Force, Johnson and Jankauskaite each had a pair of kills as the first set began with the teams tied at 6-6. The Falcons, though, used a 6-0 run and a later 7-0 run to stretch the lead to 22-8 and eventually take the set by a 25-11 margin.

The Spartans responded early in the second set to tie it up, 5-5, and then found themselves down by three just a short time later. A 4-1 run tied the score at 10-10, but Air Force stretched the lead back to six, 19-13. Johnson got NSU to within four, 20-16, but the Spartans got no closer the rest of the way.

Then in the third, a 5-0 run for Air Force game the Falcons a 9-4 lead early on. The Spartans used both of their timeouts as Air Force slowly stretched the lead to nine, 18-9. Armstead had a kill and senior Beatriz Ferreira connected on a service ace for an 18-12 Falcon lead, but Air Force ended the match on a 6-1 run.

Air Force hit .492 with just five attack errors on the night and also had a 7-1 advantage in blocks. Felicia Clement led the Falcons with eight kills and four blocks. Hillary Keltner had 27 assists with seven digs and four kills.

The Spartans hit .072 against Air Force with 24 attack errors.

NSU will face Colorado Saturday at 5 p.m. and then CSU Bakersfield at 9 to conclude the tournament.