This Weekend

Friday	NSU vs. UMES	6 p.m.	Live Stats	Live Video
Sunday	NSU at Hampton	3 p.m.	Live Stats

NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State volleyball program will honor its senior class on Friday as the Spartans play their final home match of the 2015 season. NSU will take on UMES at 6 p.m. in Gill Gymnasium due to Homecoming activities inside the Spartans' usual home, Joseph Echols Hall.
 
Both live stats and a live video feed will be available for the match. The Spartans will be facing the Hawks for the first time this season after an earlier season matchup was postponed due to weather.
 
Before the contest starts, NSU will honor its four-member senior class of Jessica Johnson, Darcy Moore, Angie Darcus and Janay Frazier. After sitting out this season due to injury, Johnson will be honored but will not receive her plaque on Friday evening due to her return next season as a redshirt senior.
 
NSU has been mathematically eliminated from the MEAC tournament but will look to close out the last regular season stretch on a high note. The Spartans own a 2-19 overall record and a 1-7 MEAC mark. UMES could finish between second and fourth in the Northern Division, and right now the Hawks own a 6-3 MEAC record and an 18-6 overall mark.
 
The Spartans will also play at Hampton on Sunday at 3 p.m. to close out the weekend. The Pirates currently sit 2-20 overall and 2-7 in MEAC play, just ahead of NSU in the standings. Live stats for that match will be available here.
 
Senior Salute
NSU's four seniors all arrived at NSU in 2012 and were freshmen during the program's best-ever Division I season that year. The Spartans also advanced to the conference tournament in 2013, ending the program's best four-year run as a D-I program.
 
Moore started in her freshman year, splitting time at setter later in the season with Nicole Kessner but still breaking Kessner's season assists record. Moore set the record again in 2013 with 1,026, becoming the first NSU player ever to top 1,000 in a season. Moore surpassed Kessner's career record in 2014, and this year reached 3,000 career assists as well. She also topped her previous record for assists in a match with 57 against Morgan State this year. She also ranks eighth in career digs (719) and sets played (371), ninth in matches played (101) and 15^th in service aces (89). Moore is currently sixth in the MEAC in assists after ranking fifth each of the previous two years.
 
Darcus had been a steady producer for NSU the previous two seasons after playing a little her freshman year, including at the end of 2014 when she tallied a pair of triple-doubles in the team's last two matches of the season. Another member of the MEAC All-Academic Team and the AD's Honor Roll, she moved exclusively to outside hitter this year and has been the team's leading hitter by far. She currently ranks ninth in the league in kills and points, and in the NSU record book Darcus sits 10^th in career kills (502), 11^th in matches played (92), 12^th in attacks (1,436) and 15^th in assists (215).
 
Frazier had her best year as a sophomore, finishing with a career best 169 kills. She is currently third on the team this season with 2.03 digs per set and owns career totals of 343 kills, 208 digs, 49 blocks, 18 service aces and 15 assists. One of the athletic department's most accomplished students, Frazier regularly earns a spot on the AD's Honor Roll and the MEAC All-Academic Team. She followed in the footsteps of her older sister, Jasmine, who played for NSU in 2010 and '11.
 
Johnson has missed the entire 2015 season due to injury and will return for next season for a redshirt year. One of the Spartans' steadiest hitters the last few years, she still ranks sixth in career kills at NSU with 654 and should easily reach third place with a strong showing in 2016. She also sits fifth in career attacks with 1,869 and is on pace to reach the top 15 in both career digs and service aces. Johnson has been a steady member of the AD's Honor Roll and the MEAC All-Academic Team during her time at NSU.
 
MEAC North Standings
Hampton (2-7), Norfolk State (1-7) and Delaware State (0-8) have all been eliminated from the conference tournament. Howard (10-1) currently sits at No. 1 in the North, with Morgan State (8-2) still in contention for the top spot thanks to its victory over the Bison earlier this year. UMES (6-3) could also finish as high as two or as low as four, while Coppin State (6-5) will either finish third or fourth based on the closing stretch of the season.
 
Howard will host Morgan State on Friday to close out its regular season, while MSU also hosts Coppin State on Sunday in both of those teams' season finales. The other teams still have a ways to go. Delaware State will play at Hampton on Friday and host UMES on Sunday. The Hornets still have matches at home against NSU (next Wednesday) and Hampton (Nov. 13), while UMES also hosts NSU on Friday the 13^th. Both of those Friday matches were postponed from earlier this year.
 
Series History
The Hawks own a 27-10 edge in the all-time series with NSU, including a 22-match win streak from 2002-12. After NSU swept UMES in 2013, the Hawks returned the favor by winning both regular season matches last year.
 
Facing UMES
The Hawks fell to Howard and Morgan State in late October but rebounded to defeat Coppin State last Sunday. That dropped UMES into sole possession of third place in the North behind Howard and MSU. The Hawks average nearly a kill more per set than the opposition, led by leading rookie of the year candidate Zuzana Ondruskova at 3.40 kills per set to go along with 2.46 digs. Lucia Babic (2.57 kills) and Alana Polk (1.85 kills, league-best 1.23 blocks) also provide plenty of offense.
 
Polk anchors a front court defense that averages 2.27 blocks per set. The Hawks also average nearly two service aces per set, led by Marta Klafuric's league-leading 0.52 service aces. She is one of four players for UMES to average at least 0.30 per set. Petra Jerabkova tallies 8.60 assists, while Andjela Reljic is also a league leader in digs at 4.77. UMES hits .218 on offense compared to .163 for the opposition. The Hawks lead the lead in both categories as well as in kills, assists, blocks and service aces while ranking second in digs.
 
Up Next
After Sunday's match at Hampton, the Spartans will play two more on the road to finish out the regular season. NSU will play at Delaware State on Wednesday and then at UMES on Friday in a match that was postponed from earlier this year.