PETERSBURG, Va. – The Elizabeth City State University volleyball team opened its season Friday afternoon during the Virginia State University Trojan Invitational against North Greenville State University and King University (Tenn.). It was also the debut of first-year head coach Vanessa Faircloth.
 
The Vikings went 0-2 on the day, dropping their first match to NGU 0-3 (11-25, 13-25, 9-25) and in the second match to King 0-3 (10-25, 19-25, 11-25). During the match against the North Greenville, ECSU was led by sophomore Jahera Dangerfield with 14 total attacks and four kills.
 
Freshman Asia Jones added three kills in the contest on 14 total attacks.  Freshman Asia Jones led the Vikings with five assists and seven digs. As a team, the Elizabeth City State tallied 10 kills on 63 total attacks, 10 assists, 22 digs, two assisted blocks, and two digs for the game.
 
NGU recorded 26 kills, 25 assists; eleven serve aces, 31 digs, and four blocks for the victory. The Crusaders were paced by Erin Allen with seven kills offensively and defensively, North Greenville was carried by Whitley Kahler with 14 digs.
 
In the second match of the day against King, The Vikings came out with the same intensity, dropping their opening set 10-25. Williams paced ECSU with six kills on 15 total attacks and three serve aces. Dangerfield collected five assists; while senior Zhiasia Bazemore tallied a career-high eight digs for Elizabeth City State.   The team improved as they recorded 12 kills, eleven assists, 25 digs, three serve aces, and two blocks.
 
Rebekah Hill commanded the tempo for KU with eleven total kills. Keri Ricker led the Tornado with 10 assists; while Sydney Pigage added eleven digs in the win.  ECSU is scheduled to face Concordia at Noon Saturday during the second day of the VSU Trojan Invitational and host team Virginia State at 2 p.m.
 
Fans can follow the contests live via live stats at: http://www.sidearmstats.com/vsu/wvball/ .
  
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