Friday: vs. Howard, 6 p.m.
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NORFOLK, Va. – The last home match of the year will also give the Norfolk State volleyball team an opportunity to honor its three seniors as Howard comes to town Friday at 6 p.m. in a key matchup of two teams fighting to make the MEAC tournament.
Nicole Kessner, Jasmine Frazier and Tracey Copley will each be honored prior to the start of the match at Joseph Echols Hall for their contributions both on and off the court to the NSU program. The Spartans will then take on Howard looking to jump ahead of the Bison in the Northern Division standings.
Live stats and a live video feed will be available for the match.
NSU and Howard currently sit in a tight battle for the last potential playoff spot. The Bison, at 4-4, are half a game ahead of the Spartans, who own a 4-5 conference mark. Maryland Eastern Shore has already locked up a bid at 8-0, while Morgan State is almost there as well at 6-3. Hampton stands 5-4 in MEAC play and must also continue to win to be guaranteed a place in the MEAC tournament. Only the top four teams in each division advance to the tourney.
Howard will play at Hampton on Sunday and then finish with Morgan State and Coppin State next weekend. Following this weekend's matches against the Bison, NSU and Hampton will finish their seasons at Delaware State and Maryland Eastern Shore next weekend as well.
The best scenario for NSU to get into the tournament would be for Howard to lose both times this weekend, forcing the Bison to sweep Morgan State and Coppin State next weekend to potentially force a tiebreaker. Should Howard beat Hampton, the Spartans would then root for a Delaware State upset of Hampton next weekend to avoid a tiebreaker.
To get past the Bison on Friday, NSU will rely heavily on its two most productive hitters, juniors Charlotte Armstead and Beatriz Ferreira. Armstead averages 2.83 kills per set, while Ferreira totals 2.80 kills. Freshman Adriana Ramos chips in with 2.30 kills per set and 0.27 service aces. Frazier totals 1.68 kills and a team-leading 0.30 service aces as well, with junior Kristen Burt tallying 8.67 assists.
Copley ranks first on the team with 2.90 digs, followed by Ramos at 1.91 and Burt at 1.90. Armstead is the team's top blocker with 0.80 blocks per set, with Frazier owning the second-most total blocks with 45, an average of 0.56 per set.
Honoring the Seniors
Below is more information on the three seniors whose accomplishments NSU will celebrate on Friday.
* Kessner
A three-time captain, Kessner ended her junior season as the all-time leader in assists at NSU and was primed to put the record out of reach before injuring her knee in the preseason. She was the team leader on the court all three years and was a big reason for the program turnaround, as the Spartans won more matches in each of her three full seasons than all but one of the prior 11 years in the Division I era.
She was an All-MEAC Second Team performer as a sophomore and a two-time MEAC All-Academic honoree. Along with ranking first in career assists with 2,162, Kessner also stands second in career hitting percentage at .269 and 10th in digs with 520. She is a majoring in pre-med biology with a minor in chemistry.
* Frazier
Winston-Salem State's loss was NSU's gain after Frazier decided to transfer to the Spartan program following her sophomore year. Frazier led the team in blocks her junior year, tallying the fourth-most blocks in a season in NSU history with 84. Included in that total were 65 block assists, which put her just four off the school record of 69. She will finish her career ranked in the top 10 in total blocks and would easily have shattered the career record had she played all four years with the Spartans.
Frazier has also contributed on the offensive side of the ball, tallying 1.50 kills per set in her career at NSU. Like Kessner, Frazier was also a MEAC All-Academic performer and is majoring in finance. She has been a member of the Dean's List and is also a member of the Business Honor Society at NSU.
* Copley
Another two-year player after arriving at NSU from Lees McRae College, Copley was the ultimate utility player in 2009, playing both front court and back court as a junior. She totaled 99 kills and 189 digs, and then used her redshirt season in 2010. Thankfully for the Spartans, she came back in 2011, where she was thrown into the full-time libero role after an early season injury to regular starter Noelle Eagles.
Copley currently owns the team lead in digs per set at 2.90, which also ranks ninth in the conference. She will finish her career just short of the all-time top 10 in digs. Copley is majoring in biology.
About Howard
The Bison stand 4-4 in conference play and 5-20 overall after their 3-1 win over Delaware State last Sunday. Howard dropped 17 of its first 18 matches of the year before winning three straight in conference play, including a 3-2 win over the Spartans on Oct. 9 at Echols Hall.
Tosin Elebute is the heart and soul of the Bison, as she tallies 4.04 kills, 2.27 digs, 0.48 blocks and 0.26 service aces per set. In comparison, Gabrielle Martin ranks second with 1.51 kills, with Taylor Johnson third at 1.49. Meagan Lagerlef has a team-leading 0.31 service aces, and the duo of Jasmine King and Stephanie Shultis averages a combined 8.51 assists. Riana Cain leads the way with 3.07 digs, and Johnson owns the most blocks on the team with 0.87 per set.
Up Next
NSU will complete its regular season next weekend at UMES and Delaware State.
