NORFOLK, Va. – The home schedule for the Norfolk State volleyball team wraps up this weekend when the Spartans host a pair of MEAC Northern Division foes at Gill Gymnasium. They host Maryland Eastern Shore on Friday at 6 p.m., followed by Delaware State on Sunday at 3 p.m.
 
The matches against Maryland Eastern Shore and Delaware State will be streamed live on the NSU Athletics website. In addition, live stats will be available for both contests as well.
 
The Spartans find themselves 2-5 in the MEAC after Sunday's 3-0 win at Morgan State. NSU sits a game behind Coppin State (3-4) in the standings for the all-important fourth and final spot in the MEAC tournament. Only the top four teams from each division advance.
 
Maryland Eastern Shore is currently second in the league behind Howard at 4-2. The Bison remain perfect at 7-0, with Morgan State third at 4-3. Because Coppin State won both matchups this year against the Spartans, NSU would need to finish ahead of the Eagles in the standings to garner the North's No. 4 seed in the tournament.
 
Norfolk State also owns a 3-15 overall record, while Maryland Eastern Shore sits 7-14 on the year. Delaware State is currently last in the division at 0-6, 2-23 overall.
 
The Spartans are down to three matches during the regular season, including the two this weekend and the finale on Nov. 9 at Howard.
 
In the South, Florida A&M has seized control at 6-1. Bethune-Cookman (5-2) and North Carolina A&T (4-3) are next in line, with Savannah State (2-4) and North Carolina Central (2-5) battling it out for the last spot.
 
MEAC Leaderboard
Junior Bojana Bolozan now finds herself in three different categories in the league. She ranks second in service aces at 0.42, third in hitting percentage at .276, and ninth in blocks with 0.85 per set.
 
No NSU player has averaged at least 0.80 blocks per set since 2006.
 
As a team, the Spartans are now fourth in service aces at 1.58. They are also eighth in hitting percentage (.136), ninth in kills (9.56), assists (8.64) and digs (11.10) and 10^th in opponent hitting percentage (.258) and blocks (1.54).
 
In addition, Bolozan sits 41^st in the nation in service aces, and junior Halley McKnight is No. 131 (0.33). The Spartans are now up to 28^th in the nation in aces per set at 1.58.
 
Catching Fire
Junior Anna Rupertova has been on a tear the last three matches. She has totaled 43 kills (3.91 per set) and hit .293 during that time while adding 2.27 digs per set. She hit .351 with 16 kills and eight digs to lead the Spartans to the win over Morgan State last Sunday.

Series History
NSU is trying to break a 10-match losing streak to Maryland Eastern Shore, which leads the all-time series 35-10. The Spartans last defeated the Hawks near the end of the 2013 season. In the first meeting this year, NSU fell by scores of 25-16, 25-21 and 25-18.
 
Delaware State, meanwhile, holds a 22-16 edge against the Spartans. The Hornets won both matches last year, although the Spartans had taken the previous five before that. NSU swept the first match this year by scores of 28-26, 25-17 and 25-19.
 
Maryland Eastern Shore Facts
The Hawks are coming off a 3-1 win over Delaware State, and in the early half of the season they fell to Howard and Morgan State as part of a 4-2 conference record. Lucia Babic, the MEAC Preseason Player of the Year, has been a force at the net, hitting .255 while averaging 3.65 kills, 1.85 digs, 0.49 blocks and 0.41 service aces per set.
 
Rachel Kayongo tallies 2.58 kills, which is still more than double the production of the next closest player. Koya Sowells leads the way on defense with 3.06 digs, and Mauri Carver leads the team with 43 total blocks despite competing in only 69 percent of the team's sets.
 
Thanks in part to Babic and Ivana Blazevic (0.44 aces, 8.10 assists), the Hawks rank second in the league in service aces as well as third in hitting percentage.
 
Delaware State Facts
DSU's only two wins this year have come against MEAC Southern Division schools North Carolina A&T and South Carolina State, the latter having been followed by 10 straight losses.
 
Mayah Ngundam (2.12 kills per set) is the leader on offense, with Carolina Rakoski (1.71), Sydney Armbrister (1.70), Devin Ruble (1.58) and Kiera Holzclaw (1.52) all chipping in at various times.
 
Ngundam and Holzclaw are tied for the team lead in blocks with 0.48 per set. And in the backcourt, Leimaluhia Taula (2.96 digs) and Nia Scott (2.21) are the big players there.