Spartan Home Volleyball
NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State volleyball team competes at home for the first time this year when the Spartans host Maryland Eastern Shore and Delaware State this weekend for a pair of conference matchups.
NSU will take on the Hawks Friday at 6 p.m., followed on Sunday by a contest against the Hornets at 3 p.m. Both matches will be played in Gill Gymnasium due to construction of the video board inside Joseph Echols Hall. Fans are encouraged to wear pink on Sunday, as it will serve as the program's annual Breast Cancer Awareness Day.
Norfolk State Athletics will host free
live stats as well as a
live video feed through the department's website. The live video feed carries a cost of $5 per match.
Friday's match will pit the Spartans, owners of a 2-11 overall record with a 1-1 MEAC mark, against Eastern Shore. The Hawks own the second-best overall record in the league at 7-10 but are 0-1 in conference play after falling to Howard last weekend. NSU and Eastern Shore met earlier this year, a 3-0 Hawk victory on Sept. 4 in the UMES Courtyard Classic.
Delaware State, meanwhile, owns a 0-13 record and a 0-1 mark in the MEAC heading into its non-conference match against American on Wednesday night.
Eastern Shore has used a balanced offensive attack, led by Lucia Babic (2.30 kills) and Iva Vujosevic (2.11). The Hawks hit .203 as a team, tops in the league, and also tally nearly two blocks and exactly 1.76 service aces per set. Vujosevic (0.55 service aces) and Mere Serea (1.00 blocks) lead the team in those respective categories.
DSU has been strong at the net, with Ariana Stevens averaging 1.17 blocks per set for a team that averages 1.69, good for fifth in the league. Out of 13 teams in the MEAC, the Hornets sit 10
th or worse in every other statistical category. Sabina Szmajduch (2.05 kills) leads on offense. Alliyah McBean is tops among all players in the league with 4.55 digs per set.
For NSU, senior
Jessica Johnson has been a one-person wrecking crew. She has 147 kills on the season, slightly more than double the next closest teammate. After missing the first weekend of the season,
Melvina Brown has come on strong lately, tallying 131 digs to anchor the backcourt. Senior
Dominique Parker has posted 22 total blocks to lead NSU's defense as well.
MEAC North Standings
Both Howard and Morgan State went 2-0 last week, with Howard defeating Delaware State and MDES and Morgan State topping Hampton and NSU. The latter two schools, though, both took down Coppin State to drop the Eagles to 0-2 while improving their records to 1-1.
This weekend, Hampton will also host Delaware State and MDES, on opposite days that NSU plays those two schools. Howard will compete at Morgan State on Thursday and host Coppin State on Sunday.
MEAC Rankings
Brown sits in second in the MEAC in digs per set at 4.52, just behind league leader McBean. Johnson also ranks second in the MEAC in kills with 3.59 per set and second in points at 3.87. Setter
Jill Aquino also ranks in the top 10, standing sixth with 6.46 assists per set.
As a team, NSU sits fifth in the conference in service aces (1.37) and digs (12.80) per set. The Spartans also rank sixth in kills (9.34), seventh in assists (8.51) and opponent hitting percentage (.258), eighth in hitting percentage (.101) and 12
th in blocks (1.02).
Weekly Honors
Both Brown and Aquino were honored by the MEAC this week after leading NSU to a 1-1 record last week during the first conference games of the year. Brown was tabbed the Defensive Specialist of the Week after accumulating 41 digs in just two matches. Aquino tallied 63 assists and 20 digs against Coppin State and Morgan State to earn the Rookie of the Week award.
It marked the first weekly awards for the Spartan program this year.
Chasing History
Johnson went over 800 kills for her career last Sunday in the loss to Morgan State. She now has 801, just eight away from surpassing Kami Jackson for third all-time at NSU. After that, the only players ahead of Johnson would be all-time leader Charlotte Armstead (1,177) and Kim Mumford (937).
Johnson is already third in total attacks (2,292), 12
th in career matches (92) and 15
th in digs (527).
Alex Irizarry is one spot ahead of her with 529 career digs.
Series History
Eastern Shore has won the past five meetings with NSU, including the matchup earlier this season, to boost its overall record against the Spartans to 29-10. NSU has won three in a row over DSU and seven of the last eight. Despite that run, the Hornets still lead 20-13 all-time against the Spartans.
Up Next
NSU will play a mid-week contest at North Carolina A&T next Tuesday before hosting Howard, the presumptive league favorite, on Oct. 9 at 3 p.m.
