2014 NSU Volleyball Schedule

NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State volleyball team will spend the first six weeks of the upcoming season on the road as the program and interim head coach Brandon Duvall unveiled the Spartans' 2014 slate today.

The home schedule for NSU this upcoming season will include all six MEAC Northern Division matches.

"We will be challenged on the road quite a bit this year, and that is exactly what we want," said Duvall. "We need to be a team that plays tough on the road. We will certainly be plenty tested this season. This is one of our most competitive schedules yet."

The first four weeks of the year will find the Spartans at four different tournaments prior to the start of conference play.

After the annual Green vs. Gold Scrimmage on Aug. 23 at 1 p.m. at Joseph Echols Hall, the Spartans will hit the road to take part in the JMU Classic on Aug. 29-30. NSU will face host James Madison, Villanova and Charleston Southern to start off the year.

Norfolk State will take on Tennessee Tech, UNC Wilmington and East Carolina at the East Carolina Invitational from Sept. 5-6, followed by a trip to Pittsburgh. There, the Spartans will compete against Pittsburgh, Niagara and Duquesne in the Pittsburgh Tournament on Sept. 12-13.

The last regular season tourney will take place from Sept. 19-20 at the Carolina Classic. NSU will face host South Carolina as well as the Citadel, Eastern Kentucky and Hofstra.

Following that stretch, NSU will begin conference play at Hampton on Sept. 26 and at Coppin State on Sept. 28. Five of the first six MEAC matches of the year will be on the road for NSU, a reverse of last year's schedule when the Spartans opened up with five of six at home. This year's schedule has the Spartans playing the same order of teams in conference play like last year, just with the home and away designations switched.

After another trip to Morgan State on Oct. 3, NSU finally competes at home when the Spartans host Howard on Oct. 10 at 7 p.m. Because of homecoming activities, the contest against the Bison will be played at Gill Gymnasium. It will be followed up by two more road contests, at Delaware State and at UMES on Oct. 12 and 17, respectively.

The back half of the MEAC schedule begins with Norfolk State hosting Hampton on Oct. 19 at 3 p.m. The next weekend, NSU will again be at home against Morgan State on Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. and Coppin State on Oct. 26 at 3 p.m.

After one last trip to Howard on Oct. 31, the Spartans close out the regular season at home against UMES on Nov. 7 and Delaware State on Nov. 9.

Every MEAC match this year – home and away – will begin at 7 p.m. on Fridays and 3 p.m. on Sundays.

This year's MEAC tournament will take place from Nov. 14-16 at Coppin State.

The Spartans return 12 players who competed in 2013 as well as two others who sat out the year. Duvall will also welcome up to three newcomers for 2014 as well.