NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State volleyball team will return to Gill Gymnasium this Friday for the first time in a month as the Spartans begin their late season home stretch. After being on the road in MEAC play the last two weekends, they will host Coppin State and Morgan State this time around.
 
Friday's match against CSU will begin at 6 p.m. in Gill Gym, while MSU will come to town Monday night for another 6 p.m. contest as part of MEAC Northern Division play. Beginning with the Eagles, NSU will play nine of its last 12 matches of the regular season at home, eight of those nine in-conference.
 
Both live stats and a live video feed will be available for both matches coming up at Gill Gym.
 
Coppin State and Morgan State come into the weekend in a tight battle in the MEAC Northern Division standings. Defending MEAC champion Howard is back on top at 5-0, with CSU and Delaware State (2-2) and Morgan State (2-3) in the next three spots. Maryland Eastern Shore is fifth at 1-3, while NSU is still searching for its first win both in the conference season (0-4) and overall (0-13).
 
CSU defeated Delaware State and Maryland Eastern Shore earlier this year, the two teams NSU fell to last weekend. The Eagles then lost to North Carolina A&T and North Carolina Central last weekend, both by 3-2 scores. Morgan State, meanwhile, lost to DSU and A&T but defeated MDES and NCCU. The Bears most recently dropped a contest to Howard on Tuesday night on the road, 3-0.
 
Morgan State owns an overall 8-10 record, while Coppin State carries a 6-12 mark.
 
Southern Division
North Carolina A&T has jumped out to a 4-0 conference record this year, while Bethune-Cookman and North Carolina Central (both 2-2) are two games behind. Like NSU, South Carolina State is still winless in MEAC play (0-4) and overall (0-15).
 
The fifth team in the division, Florida A&M, is 3-1 in the league, but the Rattlers are not eligible for the MEAC tournament this year.
 
Last Time Out
NSU fell to Delaware State, 3-1, and Maryland Eastern Shore, 3-0, last weekend on the road. The Hawks hit .419 on the way to a sweep last Friday, while the Spartans gave the Hornets some trouble on Sunday. They won the third set, 25-21, after nearly winning the first set as well (25-23).
 
The Spartans hit a season-best .224 in their four-set loss to DSU, with senior Halley McKnight (10 kills, 16 assists) leading the way. Senior Bojana Bolozan totaled eight kills. Senior Anna Rupertova (seven kills, six digs), junior Julisa Carrizosa (seven kills, 12 digs) and freshman Myleah Carter (16 digs) also had solid matches.
 
MEAC Rankings
NSU now has two players in the top 10 rankings in the league. Bolozan sits fifth in blocks at 0.84, and Carter is now 10^th in digs at 3.45. The Spartans' highest team ranking is ninth, in opponent hitting percentage, blocks, aces and digs.
 
School Record Book
There are now two current players in the top 15 in career hitting percentage at NSU. Bolozan ranks 10^th at .227, and Rupertova is 14^th at .186. The only other players in NSU's career records both reside in the assist category. Senior Jill Aquino sits sixth at 1,378, and sophomore Makenzy Johnson is 11^th with 279.
 
Series History
Both Coppin State (19-12) and Morgan State (23-7) have the all-time edge over NSU. The Spartans have lost five in a row to Coppin State and 10 of the last 11. They did take the last meeting against Morgan State, a 3-0 home win last year. MSU won the previous seven meetings before that, however.
 
Next on the Schedule
Following Monday's contest against Morgan State, NSU will travel to Howard on Oct. 18 and return home to host George Washington in a non-conference match on Oct. 21 at 6 p.m. for its second-straight Friday-Monday weekend.