NORFOLK, Va. – The last road trip of the season for the Norfolk State volleyball team takes place this weekend up in Baltimore. The Spartans will trek north to face Coppin State on Friday and Morgan State on Sunday.
 
CSU will have live video and live stats available for its match at 7 p.m. on Friday night at the Physical Education Complex. Morgan State will have live video as well for Sunday's match at 1 p.m. at the Hill Field House.
 
NSU is facing a make-or-break weekend with just six matches left in the season. The Spartans trail both Delaware State and Maryland Eastern Shore in the MEAC standings, two teams the Spartans would have to surpass to advance to the conference tournament.
 
They will be facing the team they defeated for their only win this year in Morgan State, a 3-0 victory at home on Oct. 11. The Spartans already fell to Coppin State this year by a 3-0 margin at home as well.
 
NSU's two opponents both have identical 6-4 records after Morgan State topped the Eagles on Tuesday at home, 3-1. The Bears moved to 12-11 overall, while Coppin State fell to 10-14 overall this season. The Spartans come into the match 1-18 overall, 1-8 in the league.
 
Standings Shaping Up
CSU and MSU both trail Howard (9-0) in the standings, as the Bison are almost assured of the division title at this point. Delaware State carries a 5-5 mark, and Maryland Eastern Shore stands 4-6 on the year. Howard will also play both Coppin State and Morgan State this weekend. Delaware State will host Maryland Eastern Shore on Friday in those two teams' only match this weekend.
 
In the South, North Carolina A&T suffered its first loss to the hands of Howard. A&T is now 9-1 on the year, with North Carolina Central at 5-5. Bethune-Cookman (3-7), South Carolina State (0-8) and Florida A&M (5-5) comprise the rest of the standings, with FAMU ineligible for the tourney.
 
Last Time vs. CSU, MSU
NSU fell to Coppin State, 25-15, 25-17 and 26-24, on Oct. 11, but followed that up two days later by topping Morgan State, 25-15, 25-23 and 25-16. The Spartans hit a season-best .241 against the Bears and got nine kills from both Anna Rupertova and Jannel Ezeagwu and eight from Julisa Carrizosa. The previous match, Carrizosa also led the Spartans with eight against CSU.
 
Bolozan Moving Up
Bojana Bolozan now sits second in the league in blocks at 0.95, behind A&T's Shaylynn Hall (1.13). Of course, no NSU player has led the MEAC in any individual category since Karina Moore in 2005 in blocks.
 
The Spartans are seventh in the league in blocks at 1.60. Myleah Carter, meanwhile, is ninth in digs at 3.56.
 
Bolozan is now 15^th in NSU career solo blocks with 34, as well as 10^th in hitting percentage at .225. She will soon move in to the top 15 in block assists and total blocks.
 
Series History
NSU won its second in a row over the Bears with its win earlier this month. Morgan State had won the previous seven before that and still leads the all-time series, 23-8. The Spartans dropped their sixth in a row to Coppin State with the loss earlier this year. CSU now has a 20-12 edge all-time against NSU.
 
Up Next
NSU will be at home for its final four matches of the regular season. It'll start with Maryland Eastern Shore and Delaware State on Nov. 8 and 10, respectively.