2016 MEAC Volleyball Tournament
NORFOLK, Va. – After taking down its rival to advance to the MEAC tournament, the Norfolk State volleyball team will look to knock off Southern Division No. 1 seed Florida A&M on Friday in the tourney's first round. The Spartans and Rattlers will face off at 4 p.m. from Maryland Eastern Shore's W.P. Hytche Athletic Center.
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The contest will be the third of four matchups on Friday in the first round. Semifinals are set for Saturday, with the championship match on Sunday at noon live on ESPNU. The MEAC will provide live stats for the tournament
here.
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NSU enters the 2016 MEAC Championship with a 5-7 conference record as well as a 7-19 overall mark. The Spartans finished tied for fourth in the Northern Division standings but earned the division's No. 4 and final seed in the tournament thanks to its season sweep of Hampton (also 5-7). NSU topped the Pirates by a 3-1 score in the regular season finale on Senior Day on Nov. 6 in what was a winner-take-all matchup.
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In order to keep its season going, Norfolk State will have to get past Florida A&M, which went undefeated in the Southern Division at 10-0 this season. The Rattlers lost just a total of two sets in those 10 matchups. They have also won 12 in a row overall to run their record to 15-11 on the season.
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The Spartans have been led all year by senior
Jessica Johnson, who averaged 3.70 kills per set and led NSU in kills in 24 of the team's 26 matches. She also ranked second on the team with 1.91 digs per set. The Spartans also got offensive production from seniors
Dominique Parker (1.75 kills) and
Sydney Dailey (1.28) and junior
Clarke Tyler (1.39 kills). Tyler led the team with 0.64 blocks. Parker ranked second with 40 total blocks, while sophomore
Lexi Brown was third with 32 blocks but second with 0.50 blocks per set.
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In the backcourt, Johnson ranked second on the team in digs to junior
Melvina Brown (3.75 digs), with senior
Alex Irizarry third at 1.70 digs. Brown also led the Spartans with 0.34 aces, and freshman
Jill Aquino was tops with 7.12 assists.
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The Rattlers had five players earn All-MEAC honors, including a pair of first teamers in middle blocker Ginna Lopez-Chavez and outside hitter Maria Yvette Garcia. Lpoez-Chavez averaged 2.10 kills and 0.87 blocks per set while hitting .386. Yvette Garcia tallied 3.37 kills and 1.69 digs. In addition, Nicole Abreu (3.22 kills, 2.72 digs) and Valentina Carrasco (4.06 digs) were voted to the second team, and Elena Dimitrova (8.12 assists, 1.16 digs) joined Abreu and Yvette Garcia on the All-Rookie Team. Abreu was also named the league's Co-Rookie of the Year.
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FAMU ranks either second or third in the 13-team MEAC in hitting percentage (.223), opponent hitting percentage (.180), kills (12.42), assists (11.63) and service aces (1.93) as well as fourth in digs (13.03).
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Johnson Picks up MEAC Honors
Johnson was named second-team All-MEAC this week when the conference announced its postseason awards. She became NSU's first all-conference honoree in three years since Goda Jankauskaite and Noelle Eagles were voted to the second and third teams, respectively, in 2013. Heading into the tournament, Johnson ranked second in the league in kills per set as well as third in points.
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NSU has never had a first-team honoree since moving into the league in 1997.
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Oh So Close
Johnson is now just six kills away from reaching 1,000 for her career and becoming just the second player ever at NSU to reach that mark next to the program's all-time leader, Charlotte Armstead (1,177).
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Johnson already owns the school record for career attacks (2,837). Her 340 kills this year is the second-most in a season in school history behind Armstead's 2012 season (398).
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MEAC Rankings
Johnson stands second in kills per set (3.70) behind league leader and conference player of the year Khaila Donaldson (3.99). Johnson also ranks third in points (3.99), while
Melvina Brown stands fifth in digs (3.75) and eighth in aces (0.34). Aquino is seventh in assists (7.12).
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As a team, NSU ranks highest in the league in aces per set (1.59), finding itself third among the 13 teams in the league. The Spartans also rank sixth in opponent hitting percentage (.213), seventh in hitting percentage (.120), kills (9.68) and assists (8.85), eighth in digs (11.91) and 10
th in blocks (1.34).
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National Rankings
The Spartans stand 29
th in the nation in aces per set as a team (1.59). Johnson, meanwhile, ranks 69
th in attacks per set (10.52), 89
th in kills (3.70) and 122
nd in points (3.99). Brown finds herself 113
th in aces per set as well (0.34).
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MEAC Tournament History
This will mark the first time NSU has been to the conference tournament since 2013. Only once since the turn of the century has Norfolk State won a match in the tournament. That came in 2012 when the Spartans defeated North Carolina Central and nearly upset Florida A&M in the semifinals before falling 3-2. The Spartans also lost to FAMU in their most recent tournament appearance in '13.