Full 2013 Schedule
NORFOLK, Va. – Interim head coach Brandon Duvall and the Norfolk State volleyball program released the 2013 volleyball schedule on Thursday, and NSU will once again host the Spartan Classic as well as six MEAC opponents during the home portion of the upcoming season.
The Spartans will play in three tournaments away from home in addition to welcoming a trio of schools to town for the Spartan Classic Sept. 12-14. Along with the usual home/away matches with the other six teams in the MEAC Northern Division, NSU will play non-conferences opponents William & Mary, Virginia Commonwealth and American on the road as well.
“We always want to host a tournament like this to bring in other quality programs into our gym as well as to our local area,” said Duvall. “This helps us gain exposure in the local volleyball community, especially when they see us competing against higher RPI teams like a UNC Charlotte. We need to compete against these types of teams frequently in order to become one of the top teams in our conference.”
The annual preseason Green vs. Gold Scrimmage takes place Aug. 24 at Joseph Echols Hall, with a starting time to be determined later in the summer. From there, the regular season begins with the Appalachian Invitational at Appalachian State on Aug. 30-31, where NSU will play Sam Houston State and Loyola (Md.) in addition to the host Mountaineers.
The Spartans head to West Virginia on Sept. 6-7 for the Mountaineer Invitational, this time taking on host West Virginia, Navy, Canisius and Fordham over the two-day event. UNC Charlotte, Bethune-Cookman and UMES come to Norfolk on Sept. 12-14 for the Spartan Classic at Joseph Echols Hall. NSU will take each night at 7 p.m., starting with UNC Charlotte on Sept. 12 and Bethune-Cookman and UMES the next two nights.
After that, Norfolk State will take part in the Villanova Tournament on Sept. 20-21 against Penn, the host Wildcats and Sacred Heart before returning home for conference play.
The Spartans will play five of their first six conference matches at home this year, beginning with Hampton on Sept. 27 and Coppin State on Sept. 29 for the usual Friday-Sunday MEAC weekend. All home conference matches this year begin at 7 p.m. on weekdays – as opposed to the 6 p.m. start time the previous years – as well as the usual 3 p.m. time on Sundays.
“Looking at the local area here, a 6 p.m. start time was too early if we wanted to draw bigger crowds,” Duvall stated. “Our goal is to reach out into the community and get people to come out more often. We have a beautiful gym, plenty of space, and people always say they look forward to coming to our matches. By pushing the start time back to 7 p.m., it gives those volleyball fans a better chance to watch us play. Support is always huge with our program.”
Morgan State invades Echols Hall on Oct. 3 at 7 p.m., and then NSU heads to Virginia Commonwealth on Oct. 8 and Howard on Oct. 11. The Spartans will take on Delaware State on Oct. 13 at 3 p.m. and UMES later in the week on Oct. 18 at 7 p.m.
The Spartans finish out the month of October with three straight on the road, at Hampton on the 20th, Morgan State on the 25th and Coppin State on the 27th. The last home contest of the year takes place on Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. against Howard.
NSU finishes out the regular season at American University on Nov. 5, at UMES on Nov. 8 and at Delaware State on the 10th. The MEAC Championship will take place Nov. 15-17 at Coppin State.
