This Week
Wednesday: Coppin State at NSU, 6 p.m., Echols Hall
Friday: UMES at NSU, 7 p.m., Gill Gymnasium
Live Stats | Live Video
NORFOLK, Va. – The Spartans make their final push to the MEAC tournament this week, and all three matches left will be played at home as the Norfolk State volleyball team concludes the regular season with three contests in five days.
NSU will host Coppin State Wednesday at 6 p.m. in Echols Hall in a match that was postponed from its original date of Oct. 28. The Spartans will then switch over to Gill Gymnasium Friday for a 7 p.m. showdown with first place UMES.
As for every home match, live stats and live video will be available. That will also include Senior Day on Sunday.
Having already locked up a berth in the conference tournament, NSU will look to solidify its second-place standing. At 7-2 in the MEAC and 11-18 overall, the Spartans are a half game ahead of third-place Hampton (7-3), with Coppin State in fourth at 5-5. UMES owns the top spot at 10-0. The Spartans own the tiebreaker over the Pirates.
Coppin State also carries a 10-12 overall record on the year, while UMES stands 24-4. The Eagles swept the Spartans by a 3-0 score in late September in Baltimore in the teams' first meeting, while the Hawks survived to defeat NSU 3-1 on Oct. 14 in Princess Anne, Md.
NSU has won five in a row and nine of its last 11 matches, both streaks the best since the Spartans moved to Division I. Most recently, they defeated Howard by a 3-1 score on Friday in the nation's capital.
The Spartan offense is looking to bounce back from a sub-par game at Howard and is led by senior Charlotte Armstead. She owns a .230 hitting percentage and is averaging 3.10 kills per set. Freshman Jessica Johnson ranks second with 2.01 kills, with senior Beatriz Ferreira (1.98) and junior Goda Jankauskaite (1.61) also chipping in.
Freshman Darcy Moore has posted 7.52 assists, while senior Nicole Kessner has added 4.37 since returning from injury. Johnson also leads the way with 0.34 service aces per set with sophomore Adriana Ramos second at 0.30.
On the defensive side, redshirt sophomore Noelle Eagles anchors the backcourt with 4.09 digs. Ramos ranks second with 1.82, and Johnson is third at 1.68. Jankauskaite leads the Spartans with 0.80 blocks per set, with junior Coralie Jarema second with 0.68.
Big Win Streaks
The team's five-game win streak is the longest since the Spartans began the 1996 season with five wins in a row. The last time NSU won more than five in a row or did better than 9-2 over an 11-game stretch was at the end of the 1995 season.
Nice Conference Record
At 7-2, NSU can finish no worse than 7-5 in MEAC play. Now in their 16th season in the conference, the Spartans have only finished .500 or better in conference play once before this year, a 5-3 record in 2010.
One More Record
With 10 kills last Friday, Armstead passed her single-season record of 328 that she set in 2010. She now has 329 kills on the season. Armstead also recently passed the all-time record for total attacks and needs to play in five more sets to own that record as well.
Also chasing season records are Moore, Eagles and Jankauskaite. Moore needs 80 more assists to tie Kessner's mark, while Eagles is 77 digs away from tying April Johnson's single-season record. Jankauskaite needs six more block assists and 24 more total blocks to tie those season marks as well.
How They Stack Up
Eagles is the only NSU player who ranks in the top five in the league, as she sits third in digs at 4.09 per set. Also sitting in the top 10 include Moore (seventh, 7.52 assists), Armstead (ninth, 3.10 kills; 10th, 3.42 points), Jankauskaite (10th, .254 hitting percentage) and Johnson (10th, 0.34 service aces).
As a team, the Spartans rank third in service aces (1.56), fourth in assists (10.47) and kills (11.52), sixth in opponent hitting percentage (.223), seventh in blocks (1.59) and digs (11.92), and eighth in hitting percentage (.161).
NSU also ranks 19th in the nation in service aces per set.
About Coppin State
The Eagles have already won more matches this season than any other season and have split their last six meetings. Mostly recently, they defeated Delaware State by a 3-0 score before suffering a setback to UMES by the same margin at home.
Ariel Richard carries the Coppin State offense with 3.52 kills per set, with Cindy Okpegbue (2.33 kills) and Bianca Chatman (1.81) also in the mix. Chelsee Sauni sets them up with 8.90 assists, while Denali Sturgeon and Richard lead the way with 0.35 and 0.30 service aces per set. Gabrielle Otero easily paces the way with 4.45 digs, while Kandace Thomas has posted a team-leading 0.68 blocks.
About UMES
The Hawks have won 10 in a row, all in conference play, after dropping three straight at a tournament at CSU Bakersfield. Howard came closest to defeating UMES, falling by a 3-2 score after an early 2-0 lead. The Spartans also came close, as the four-set match at UMES earlier this year was decided by a combined 12 points.
Saitaua Iosia leads the team with 4.26 kills per set despite missing time due to injury. She is backed up by Maline Vaitai (2.85 kills), Victoria Williams (2.23) and Ndidi Ibe (2.18). Jessica Vicic hands out the assists to the tune of 10.68 per set, while Iosia and Kaveinga Lea'Aetoa average a team-leading 0.74 and 0.52 service aces. Ibe is the team's top blocker at 1.09 per set, while Iosia is tops with 2.52 digs.
Up Next
NSU wraps up the regular season Sunday at 3 p.m. at Echols Hall for Senior Day against Delaware State.
