Weekend Schedule
Friday: at Hampton, 6 p.m.
Sunday: at Morgan State, 3 p.m.
NORFOLK, Va. – After a big win over Delaware State last Friday, the Norfolk State volleyball team faces another critical weekend as the Spartans hit the road for the first time in conference play against Hampton and Morgan State.
The Spartans will play at Hampton Friday at 6 p.m. and at Morgan State Sunday at 3 p.m. looking to maintain their top 4 spot in the Northern Division standings. The top 4 teams in both the Northern and Southern Divisions advance to the MEAC Championship in November. Live stats and live video will not be available for either match this weekend.
NSU currently sits in a tie for fourth place in the league with Morgan State with a 2-3 conference record, 6-11 overall. The Bears, who defeated Hampton on Wednesday, 3-0, also own a 2-3 record with a 4-17 overall mark. Howard sits in third place with a 3-2 record, with UMES still undefeated at 5-0 and Hampton second in the division at 4-2. Delaware State is sixth at 2-4, and Coppin State has gone 1-5 so far this year.
Starting tomorrow, six of NSU's last eight matches will be on the road, including all five of the team's conference road matches on the season. The Spartans will host Morgan State Oct. 28 and Howard Nov. 4 for Senior Day.
NSU continues to get a balanced attack from the trio of juniors Charlotte Armstead and Beatriz Ferreira and freshman Adriana Ramos. Armstead ranks first on the team with 2.92 kills on a .264 attack percentage, while Ferrerira averages 2.60 kills on a .201 hitting clip and Ramos tallies 2.32 kills per set. Junior Kristen Burt has posted 8.82 assists, while senior Jasmine Frazier owns a team-best 0.29 service aces.
Defensively, Armstead is the team's top blocker with 0.69 blocks per set, while Frazier second at 0.55. Senior libero Tracey Copley has posted 2.89 digs, with Burt second with 2.08 and Ramos third at 1.94 digs per set.
No. 1 on the List
Armstead had two block assists in last Sunday's 3-0 loss to UMES, moving ahead of Chanel Barnes into first place all-time in the NSU record book with 134 career block assists. Armstead still has a little more ways to go before she owns the all-time blocks record of 219, as she currently owns 172 career blocks. Armstead also needs 11 more kills to move into a tie for fourth all-time in that category.
MEAC Rankings
Heading into the week, Burt ranked third in the league in assists with 8.82 per set, while Armstead stood fourth in hitting percentage at .264 and eighth in kills with 2.92 per set. Copley sits ninth in the MEAC with 2.89 digs.
As a team, the Spartans continue to lead the league in digs with 13.68 per set, while also ranking second in opponent hitting percentage (.171), fourth in assists (10.52) and kills (11.55), sixth in blocks (1.50), and seventh in hitting percentage (.139) and service aces (1.29).
About Hampton
The Pirates own a 9-10 record, including 4-2 in conference play, after a rather surprising 3-0 loss to Morgan State on Wednesday. Hampton, which already defeated NSU by a 3-1 score on Sept. 28, will get a week off after this Friday's tilt with the Spartans.
Krista Kraskura continues to lead Hampton with 3.39 kills per set, with Mianna Armstrong, Ornela Cadavid and Sonja Maksimovic all right around 1.85 kills. Both Lihi Elkayam (6.67 assists) and Juliana Chavez (6.61 assists) set up the offense, and Elkayam and Sheileen Pagan lead the team with 0.27 and 0.26 service aces, respectively. Pagan also has a team-high 3.49 digs, with Kraskura second at 3.48. Mariah Baylor has been the team's top blocker at 0.91 per set.
About Morgan State
The Bears picked up a big win over Hampton on Wednesday, 3-0, to keep pace with the Spartans for fourth place in the Northern Division. Morgan State faces bottom dweller Coppin State Friday prior to its match with NSU on Sunday.
Prior to their win over Hampton, the Bears were led by Nangeeshie Pabon with 2.42 kills, with Ashley Johnson, Nangeeshie Plaud and Kierra Outlin all averaging 1.50 or more kills per set. Natalie Chafeh paces the way with 6.49 assists, and Outlin has a team-best 0.29 service aces. Erin Cox carries a team-leading 3.19 digs per set average, with Outlin second at 2.35. Janelle Wilson leads the defense at the net with 0.70 blocks.
Up Next
NSU will return home to face Morgan State on Oct. 28 at 6 p.m. in Gills Gym.