JMU Classic

Friday	NSU at James Madison	7:30 p.m.	Live Stats
Saturday	NSU vs. Villanova	10 a.m.	Live Stats
	NSU vs. Charleston Southern	5 p.m.	Live Stats

NORFOLK, Va. - After losing two of its best hitters from last year but returning everyone else, the Norfolk State volleyball team is looking for a new batch of players to step up on the offensive side of the ball in 2014. NSU comes into the season deep in its backcourt defense and with plenty of talent on offense.
 
The Spartans will be counting on several returning players and newcomers to take the next step in their development if the program wants to improve from its 2013 record. Despite having a good amount of talent, much of it comes into the season unproven in its ability to carry the team both offensively and in the program's biggest weakness from last season, blocking.
 
The Spartans finished 7-5 in conference play and 11-18 overall last year. Interim Head Coach Brandon Duvall believes he could have one of his most talented teams yet at NSU. How fast some of those newcomers and previous reserve players can adjust to being the center of attention will go a long way in determining NSU's fate this year.
 
Only two players who saw time on the court in 2013 will not be back in Duvall's fifth year leading the program. But the loss of departed seniors Goda Jankauskaite and Coralie Jarema is significant after those two combined for five kills per set last year, more than 42 percent of the team's overall production.
 
A trio of juniors will need to step into expanded roles on offense. It all starts with Jessica Johnson, who ranked second on the team last year with 2.14 kills per set and also added 1.79 digs and 25 service aces. With Jarema and Jankauskaite gone, Johnson is now the program's most accomplished hitter.
 
Fellow junior outside hitter Janay Frazier made strides last year, averaging nearly two kills per set. Duvall will be looking for more consistency from match to match from Frazier as he searches for viable second, third and fourth options on the attack.
 
If NSU's preseason is any indication, though, more options have already begun to pop up. Two newcomers, freshmen Clarke Tyler and Hope Forsythe, will compete for starting spots in the rotation. The versatile 6-0 Tyler can play anywhere on the front row and will give the Spartans another solid hitter and blocker to throw into the mix. Forsythe, at 5-11, is fighting for playing time at the right side spot and even possibly at outside hitter.
 
Also looking strong on offense this preseason is sophomore Tori Tulensru. She showed promise as a hitter last season, averaging 1.52 kills in 46 sets, but concussion symptoms halfway through the year derailed the rest of her season. Now healthy, Tulensru is locked in a battle with Forsythe for the starting right side hitter position.
 
Like Tulensru, another player needing to make the leap from her freshman to her sophomore season is Dominique Parker. A potential starter in the middle, the coaches are looking Parker to step into a more dominant blocker role and also provide offense in the middle along with Tyler.
 
NSU is very experienced and deep in the backcourt, which includes junior setter Darcy Moore. After setting school records for assists in a match and in a season last year and averaging 9.41 per set, Moore is on pace to top the career record this year and become one of the league's top setters.
 
Moore ranked second on the team with 2.16 digs as well, with redshirt senior Noelle Eagles back for one more go-around after tallying 3.66 digs per set and earning third-team all-MEAC accolades. She anchors a backcourt defense that will include several familiar faces as well as some talented newcomers.
 
Senior Adriana Ramos (1.68 digs) and sophomore Alex Irizarry (1.28 digs) provide two more key ingredients for the backcourt defense, especially important for the Spartans after the loss of NSU's two most productive blockers in Jarema and Jankauskaite. Ramos started 24 of the team's 29 contests last year, while Irizarry gave the Spartans an important substitution option during the course of the match.
 
Also new to the team this year are two Division II transfers and defensive specialists in Meghan Peji and Kayla Cason. Peji transferred to NSU for the spring semester after playing two years at Francis Marion, while Cason joined the team during the summer after competing for Saint Augustine's for one season.
 
They give NSU two more solid players in the backcourt, as the Spartans now have plenty of options for subs and can go almost three deep. Both can backup Eagles at libero along with Irizarry. After ranking 11^th in the MEAC in blocks last year, the Spartans will need their backcourt defense to come up big again while NSU's blocking rotation gets settled.
 
Senior Jasmin Flowers is now NSU's most experienced blocker by far and is one of several players who will need to be a consistent force at the front of the net in order for the Spartans to improve upon their 1.25 blocks per-set-average as a team last year.
 
Sophomore walk-on hitter Sydney Dailey, meanwhile, showed some pop on the offensive side of the ball in limited action last year and is another option at outside hitter. Junior Angie Darcus, who averaged 1.76 kills per set last year, is another solid option off the bench at the right side hitter position.
 
Also back is redshirt senior reserve middle blocker Kylee Thiim, who provides another solid body up front in NSU's blocking scheme. The Spartans also had a walk-on blocker sit out last year in freshman Uwem Etuk. Along with the team's main blockers, NSU will also be counting on some of its outside and right side hitters to step up in their at-the-net defense.
 
Norfolk State will play the first six weeks of the season on the road, including four straight tournaments before competing for two weekends away from home in MEAC play. The Spartans will play at the JMU Classic, the East Carolina Invitational, the Panther Classic and the Carolina Classic at South Carolina.
 
The Spartans will also play the usual home-and-away matches with all six MEAC Northern Division teams. Unlike last year, NSU's schedule will be back loaded this season, with five of the last six conference matches at home.
 
The MEAC tournament will take place Nov. 14-16 at Coppin State.