NORFOLK, Va. – It will be a home weekend for the Norfolk State volleyball team as the Spartans wrap up the month of October with a pair of Southern Division leaders. Friday will mark the second big test for NSU in MEAC play in a week's span.
After taking on Northern Division leader Howard last Friday, NSU will host South leader North Carolina A&T this Friday night at 6 p.m. at Gill Gymnasium. Then on Sunday, the Spartans welcome North Carolina Central for a 1 p.m. contest.
There will be
live stats and
live video for both matches available.
The Spartans will first take on an Aggie team that is undefeated in MEAC play so far at 8-0, 10-12 overall, and is first in the league in hitting percentage, kills and blocks. The Aggies have defeated every other team in the MEAC except NSU and Howard, the two teams A&T plays this weekend.
NCCU is second in the division at 4-4 with a 5-19 overall mark. The Eagles have already defeated Coppin State, Delaware State and Maryland Eastern Shore so far this year.
The Spartans are coming off a loss to George Washington at home on Monday, 3-0, that dropped their overall record to 1-16. NSU goes into the weekend 1-6 in league play as well. This marks the first time the Spartans will play the two schools in an official MEAC capacity since they left the Southern Division after the 2010 season.
Division Standings
The Spartans trail both Delaware State and Maryland Eastern Shore in the North standings, as both school sit 3-5 in the league. Morgan State (4-4) is third, while Coppin State owns a 5-3 mark. Howard of course still leads the division at 7-0.
Aside from A&T and NCCU, the Southern Division standings also include Bethune-Cookman (3-5) and South Carolina State (0-6). Ineligible Florida A&M is 4-4 in league play so far.
NSU will be rooting for the Florida schools this weekend, as they travel to take on DSU and MDES. NSU needs to surpass both schools in the standings to advance to the MEAC tournament. Howard also hosts N.C. A&T and NCCU this weekend, setting up a division-leading showdown on Sunday with the Aggies.
South Carolina State will play at both MSU and CSU this weekend as well.
Last Time Out
NSU is coming off a weekend in which it fell to Howard and George Washington by 3-0 margins. The Bison first defeated NSU by scores of 25-18, 25-13 and 25-15 last Friday at Burr Gymnasium in Washington, D.C. in a MEAC match. The Bison piled up 40 kills and hit .298 for the evening.
In NSU's last non-conference match of the year, GWU held the Spartans to a .000 attack percentage on Monday at Gill Gym The Colonials won via scores of 25-17, 25-16 and 25-19 despite hitting just .126, finishing with two less attack errors than NSU.
MEAC Stat Report
Prior to Monday's match against GWU, senior
Bojana Bolozan ranked fourth in the MEAC in blocks at 0.88. Freshman
Myleah Carter stood ninth in digs at 3.55. The team's highest ranking was still in blocks, where they sat eighth with 1.50 per set.
Series History
North Carolina A&T has won the last two meetings and four of the last five for a 23-8 lead in the all-time series with NSU. The Spartans had won nine in a row over the Aggies before this recent five-match streak, although a pair of those wins were later vacated by the NCAA.
The Spartans took the previous meeting against North Carolina Central back in 2017, while the two teams split the other two matches since the Eagles officially joined the MEAC for the 2011 season. NCCU still leads the all-time series, 14-10.
Up Next
NSU will have six matches left in the season after this weekend. The Spartans will play their last road matches of the year on Nov. 1 and 3 at Coppin State and Morgan State, respectively, before closing out the season with four straight home contests.
