Box Score HARRISONBURG, Va. – Five players reached double digits in kills, but the Norfolk State volleyball team dropped a five-set contest against North Carolina Central on Friday afternoon by a 3-2 score at the JMU Invitational.
 
The matchup at James Madison's Sinclair Gymnasium saw the Spartans hold the edge in most statistical categories. NSU finished with 17 more kills on the afternoon but dropped the third and fourth sets to fall into a hole.
 
The Spartans won the first set, 25-16, before the Eagles took the next two sets, 25-20 and 25-22. NSU stayed alive with a 25-22 victory in the fourth set before NCCU earned its first win of the year by taking the fifth set, 15-11.
 
Senior Angie Darcus had 16 kills and 12 digs for NSU (1-10), while senior Janay Frazier tallied 13 kills and tied her career high with 18 digs. The Spartans hit a season-high .216 for the match and outplayed the Eagles in kills (67-50) and digs (84-67). Both totals also marked season bests for the Spartans.
 
NCCU (1-14) finished with a .174 attack percentage.
 
The Eagles used runs late in the second and third sets to pull ahead by a 2-1 score in the match. The Spartans also had to rally in the fourth to stay alive.
 
Sophomore Hope Forsythe had two kills and a block to help NSU jump ahead in that fourth set, 6-1. NCCU outscored NSU 13-4 during the middle portion of the stanza for a 14-10 lead. After the Spartans called timeout, the two teams traded points before NSU won seven of eight points for a 20-18 edge. Junior Dominique Parker had a kill and two blocks to spark NSU, and Forsythe and sophomore Clarke Tyler had back-to-back kills a short time later to send the match to the fifth set.
 
There, the Spartans fell behind by a 4-2 score and then called timeout down 9-5. The Eagles went up by as much as five before calling timeout after three straight errors made it 11-9. The Spartans were ultimately unable to finish the comeback more than two hours into the match.
 
Parker and Tyler each had 10 kills and combined to hit .308 with seven blocks. Forsythe added 12 kills and eight digs.
 
The Spartans faced three different three-point deficits to start the match, but they quickly pulled away. Tyler got NSU going with a pair of blocks, and Frazier added four kills during a 12-2 run that built the lead up to nine. Senior setter Darcy Moore added one of her six kills to finish the set.
 
Down by three and then four early in the second set, NSU got a pair of kills from Darcus and another one from Tyler to get to within one, 11-10. The Eagles scored five straight for a 16-10 lead, and they still led by five at 19-14 before NSU scored three straight to force an NCCU timeout. The Spartans got no closer than two the rest of the set.
 
The two teams were even in the third stanza, with neither team taking more than a two-point lead. Parker twice put NSU ahead by two with kills, the latter at 13-11. The Eagles, though, scored nine of the next 10 points for a six-point edge. The Spartans attempted a comeback, with Parker throwing down kills to twice cut the deficit to two. A block from NCCU ended the set with the Eagles ahead, 2-1.
 
Kelsey Murphy and Kelly Rossip each had 12 kills to lead the Eagles. Junior Alex Irizarry had a match-high 19 digs for the Spartans. Moore also added 50 assists, 10 digs and six kills.
 
NSU faces Georgetown on Saturday at noon and James Madison at 7 p.m. during the second day of the tournament.