Live Stats
NORFOLK, Va. – Following a disappointing 0-3 weekend at the Radford Tournament, the Norfolk State volleyball team will look to right the ship at the Comfort Suites Coastal Carolina Invitational Friday and Saturday.
The Spartans will face USC Upstate Friday at 4 p.m., followed by matches against Coastal Carolina Saturday at noon and against The Citadel at 4 p.m.
NSU comes in at 3-5 overall after dropping its match to Radford on Friday by a 3-0 score, and Saturday's contests to Canisius, 3-1, and to East Tennessee State, 3-0.
Freshman Arielle Knafel and junior Jasmine Frazier each totaled 21 kills for the three matches, while sophomore Charlotte Armstead added 17. Frazier and Armstead also added seven and six blocks, respectively, while freshman Noelle Eagles and Knafel totaled 36 and 32 digs.
Junior Nicole Kessner totaled 26 assists in Friday's match before sitting out Saturday due to a lingering shoulder injury.
2-for-2 with Rookie Honors
Knafel earned the MEAC Rookie of the Week honor on Monday after her effort last week, which also included a 12-kill, 16-dig, 8-service ace effort in a 3-2 win over Hampton Aug. 31. She followed in the footsteps of Eagles, who took home the season's first Rookie of the Week award last week.
Sitting Atop the Conference
Of the seven major categories – hitting percentage, kills, assists, service aces, blocks, digs, points – an NSU player sits in the top three in four of those categories.
Kessner is tops in assists at 8.83, and Knafel stands all alone in service aces at 0.52 per set, with the second-place holder averaging 0.39.
In addition, Eagles ranks second in digs at 4.48, and Knafel ranks third in points per set (3.60) and seventh in digs (3.32). Redshirt sophomore Paige Gary-Canty sits 10th in points per set (2.75).
As a team, NSU sits atop the conference rankings in assists (10.26 per set) and opponent hitting percentage (.178), as well as second in kills (11.32), service aces (1.45) and digs (14.06).
Nearing a Milestone
Kessner is just three assists away from reaching 1,500 for her career and 17 from tying Dianne Harris for second-most at NSU. She also needs 11 more digs to reach the school's top-10 list.
That Milestone Will Have to Wait a Day
Kessner will sit out Friday's match after taking a week off to rest her shoulder but is expected to see action in both of Saturday's matches.
About USC Upstate
The USC Upstate Spartans sit 2-4 on the season with wins over Southeast Missouri State and Eastern Kentucky sandwiched around four straight losses.
Cori Harris leads the team with 3.28 kills and 0.44 service aces per set. She is also one of five players to average more than two digs per set. Megan Healey, with 3.64 digs, is tops on the team. Katie Downey and Morgan Thomas both have totaled 14 blocks on the year, while Emily Sanders is the team's primary setter, averaging 8.68 assists.
About Coastal Carolina
The Chanticleers own a 2-5 record, with losses to big-name programs Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and Georgia along with East Tennessee State. Like NSU, Coastal Carolina also lost to the Bucs, 3-0. The team's two wins came in its most recent matches, a 3-2 win over Long Island at the Hokie Invitational last weekend and a 3-1 victory over Campbell Tuesday.
Stopping Coastal Carolina means stopping Chelsy Kimes, who leads the team with 4.04 kills per set, more than a third of the team's total offensive production. Lauren Alejo (4.71 assists) and Kelsie Mauck (5.48) have split time at setter. On defense, Lindsay Gill (4.582) and Kimes (3.35) rank 1-2 on the team in digs, while Megan Bickford and Meghan Laffin anchor the frontcourt defense with 0.88 and 0.85 blocks per set, respectively.
Opponents lead Coastal Carolina in total blocks (53-43.5), service aces (34-13), kills (12.9-10.5 per set) and hitting percentage (.165-.115).
About The Citadel
The Bulldogs continue to search for their first win after dropping the first seven matches of the season. The Citadel has taken just three sets in those seven losses, including two in a 3-2 loss to Charleston Southern.
Jestila Tatum ranks first on the team with 2.62 kills per set and in digs with 3.75. Kaona Mercer (2.13) and Jessica Maas (2.00) average at least two kills per set. Maas also has a team-high 17 blocks, while Jessica Maxwell has added 16 with a team-high average of 1.14 per set. Like Coastal Carolina, the Bulldogs have split time between setters with Alexa Dahlstrom (5.32 assists per set) and Erin Bucherl (4.65).
Opponents hold a large edge in kills (12.7-10.1 per set), attack percentage (.217-.135) and service aces (50-21), while the Bulldogs trail closely in total blocks (50-46). The Citadel does hold a slight edge over opponents in digs (15.2-15.1 per set).
Up Next
The Spartans make another weekend road trip, this time to Greensboro, N.C., for the UNC Greensboro Spartan Spiketacular Sept. 17-18. Gardner-Webb, Morgan State and the host UNCG Spartans await NSU there.
