NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State volleyball team will hit the road for one last time in 2014 when the Spartans travel to Howard this Friday for a conference matchup on Halloween night at Burr Gymnasium. Match time is 7 p.m.
NSU has only three contests left in the regular season now, including the final two matches of the year the following weekend at Joseph Echols Hall.
The Spartans own a 1-20 overall record and a 1-8 MEAC mark. Howard carries a 14-9 overall record into the matchup with NSU and a 7-1 MEAC mark.
NSU is technically still alive for the Northern Division's No. 4 spot in the MEAC tournament. The Spartans could claim a three-way tie with Morgan State and UMES for that fourth spot. NSU would need to win its last three, MSU would need to lose its last three, and UMES would need to defeat the Bears but lose its other three matches for that scenario to come into play.
Senior DayThe Spartans will host Senior Day on Nov. 9 when they play Delaware State at 3 p.m. at Echols Hall. NSU will honor its four seniors,
Noelle Eagles,
Kylee Thiim,
Adriana Ramos and
Jasmin Flowers, prior to the start of its last regular season match of the year.
NSU also hosts UMES on Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. at Echols Hall in its second-to-last match of the year.
MEAC StandingsHampton (8-0) and Howard (7-1) continue to lead the MEAC North, with Coppin State (5-4) and Morgan State (3-5) right behind them. UMES (3-5), Delaware State (1-6) and NSU round out the division.
Florida A&M (7-0) and Bethune-Cookman (6-1) continue to lead the South. At 3-3 and in third place, North Carolina A&T is in good position to make the conference tournament. North Carolina Central (2-4) and South Carolina State (2-5) are battling it out for the last tournament spot, while Savannah State is winless in MEAC play at 0-7.
MEAC RankingsJessica Johnson ranks fifth in the league in kills with 3.18 per set and fifth in points at 3.39. Setter
Darcy Moore ranks sixth in assists at 8.78 and is the only other player besides Johnson who sits in the top 10.
The Spartans rank fifth in the league in assists at 10.57 and sixth in kills at 11.22. They also sit seventh in service aces (1.38), eighth in hitting percentage (.122) and 12
th in opponent hitting percentage (.259), blocks (1.20) and digs (11.25).
Series HistoryHoward won this season's earlier match with the Spartans by a 3-0 score on Oct. 10 in NSU's home opener at Gill Gymnasium. That victory gave the Bison a current 13-5 edge over the Spartans in the programs' all-time series. The Bison have won three in a row over NSU after the Spartans had previously won three straight.
Looking at HowardThe Bison have continued their resurgence that began last year when they had a 20-game turnaround in the win column from the 2012 season. Khaila Donaldson leads the way with 3.65 kills per set, followed by Assata Conway (2.46) and Katherine Broussard (2.32). Stephanie Shultis has tallied 9.94 assists per set to go with a team-leading 27 service aces.
Broussard (3.08 digs) and Donaldson (2.73) also anchor the defense along with Allyson Lods (3.22 digs). Conway leads the MEAC in blocks at 1.19.
