Mercer Bear Brawl
Friday Schedule: vs. Tennessee State, 3 p.m.; vs. Troy, 5 p.m.
Saturday Schedule: vs. Mercer, 3 p.m.
Live Stats (All 3 Matches)
NSU In-Depth Season Preview
NORFOLK, Va. – After having their season-opening weekend delayed last Friday and Saturday due to Hurricane Irene, the Norfolk State volleyball team will play its first matches of the 2011 season this Friday and Saturday at the Mercer Bear Brawl.
NSU will begin its season with back-to-back matches against Tennessee State and Troy Friday at 3 and 5 p.m., respectively, and then face host Mercer Saturday at 3 p.m. For live stats of all three matches, click here. There will be no live video feed for any of the three matches.
The Spartans were set to play Hofstra, Manhattan and Radford last weekend at the Asics Invitational at Hofstra, located on Long Island, but with the storm approaching, NSU was forced to delay the start of its season until this weekend.
NSU brings back nine letterwinners and two redshirt players from the 2010 team that went 13-20 overall, 5-3 in the MEAC Southern Division. Both records were the best by an NSU team since moving to Division I in 1997. The Spartans also brought in six newcomers – three freshmen and three junior transfers – to give NSU its deepest and perhaps most talented team in nearly 15 years.
Among those returning include 2010 All-MEAC Second Team performer Charlotte Armstead, who led the Spartans with 2.67 kills per set. Senior Jasmine Frazier averaged a team-leading 0.68 blocks per set, while sophomore libero Noelle Eagles was tops on the team with 3.62 digs. For an in-depth season preview, click here.
About Tennessee State
The Tigers earned a pair of wins last weekend at the Big Orange Bash at Clemson, 3-0 over defending MEAC champion South Carolina State and 3-1 against Loyola (MD), while also falling victim to host Clemson, 3-0.
Shaquita Williams tallied 4.00 kills per set on a .365 attack percentage to lead the way for Tennessee State, with Terakka Walker (2.60) also a threat to score points for the Tigers. Britani Hathorn added 4.90 digs and Erika Moss handed out 10.30 assists, although the Tigers were outblocked, 21.0-9.5, on the weekend.
About Troy
The Trojans opened their season 1-2 at the Samford/UAB Invitational last weekend before evening their record with a 3-0 defeat of Alabama State on Tuesday. Troy fell to Samford, 3-0, and UNC Ashville, 3-2, before rebounding with a 3-0 defeat of Akron last Friday and Saturday.
Kayla Pickart led the way with 3.21 kills per set, while Breanna Cullity (2.71), Devin Von Pingel (2.54) and Natasha Kolunija (2.00) also paced a very prolific Trojan attack. Troy has hit .235 so far this season, although the Trojans have given up nearly 13 kills per set. Brittany McClelland, meanwhile, owns a team-leading 0.64 blocks, while Alexandra Alexander (10.57 assists) and Courtney Cohen (4.64 digs) lead the Trojans in their respective categories.
About Mercer
The Bears started off the season 0-3 at the Winthrop Classic, dropping 3-0 matches to Davidson, Winthrop and UNC Wilmington. Mercer will host Georgia Southern Wednesday at 6 p.m. prior to the start of their tournament on Friday.
Jennifer Katona and Amiee Frutchey paced the way with 2.22 kills per set in those first three matches, while Monica Sanchez dished out 7.33 assists as the Bears hit .044 for the tournament. Charlotte Harris tallied 4.89 digs per set, and Caroline Carlton posted 1.33 blocks, although Mercer's three opponents averaged nearly 3 blocks per set.
Up Next
NSU will head to Baltimore Sept. 9-10 for the Maddie Bingaman Memorial Tournament at UMBC, where the Spartans will face Fairleigh Dickinson and Youngstown State on the first day and host UMBC the second day.
