NORFOLK, Va. – After having last weekend off, the Norfolk State volleyball team dives into the MEAC portion of its season this weekend. The Spartans will make the trek to Florida to take on Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman.
 
NSU will play at FAMU on Friday at 7 p.m., followed by a contest at B-CU on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Rattlers will host live stats for that match.
 
The beginning of MEAC play finds NSU taking on what have been the top two teams in the Southern Division lately. Last year, FAMU won the division with a 9-1 record, while B-CU was second at 7-3. The two teams shared the division title in 2017 at 9-1.
 
This year marks a new twist in league scheduling. The Spartans will still play every team in the Northern Division twice in a home-and-home format. They will, however, play each Southern Division team once. In addition to the two road matches this weekend, NSU will also host North Carolina A&T, North Carolina Central and South Carolina State from the Southern Division later this year.
 
The Spartans own a 0-9 record so far this year. Bethune-Cookman has the top overall record in its division at 3-9, which includes two wins over Texas Southern. Florida A&M sits 2-11 with victories over Southern and Texas Southern as well.
 
Friday marks the first of four straight matches NSU will play on the road to start conference play, including at Maryland Eastern Shore and Delaware State the following weekend. After that, the Spartans play nine of their last 12 at home, which includes one non-conference contest.
 
MEAC Rankings
NSU sits highest in service aces when it comes to the MEAC. The Spartans are currently fourth in the league in aces per set at 1.34. On an individual level, three players rank in the top 10 in the MEAC. Senior Bojana Bolozan ranks sixth in blocks at 0.86. Freshman Myleah Carter is ninth in digs (3.24) and senior Halley McKnight finds herself 10^th in aces (0.34).
 
Northern Division Round-Up
Morgan State has the best overall record in the league at 6-7, which includes wins over Seton Hall and William & Mary to start the year. Delaware State (5-9) and Maryland Eastern Shore (5-10) each have five wins on the year. DSU recently won three in a row, including a 3-1 win over Hampton. Maryland Eastern Shore also played Hampton this year but suffered a 3-2 loss.
 
Coppin State (3-10) and Howard (3-11) also sit ahead of the Spartans in the standings. Howard's big win this year came against Rutgers, although the Bison did lose to an opponent NSU also played this year. American defeated Howard by a 3-1 score before later defeating the Spartans, 3-0.
 
Series History
The Spartans took on the Rattlers and Wildcats when they were in the Southern Division years ago. NSU, though, has never beaten Florida A&M in 25 all-time meetings. FAMU has knocked the Spartans out of the MEAC tournament in each of NSU's last three appearances (2012, '13, '16).
 
Bethune-Cookman owns a 16-6 overall record in the all-time series with the Spartans, although NSU has won the past three meetings.
 
Last Time Out
NSU last competed on Sept. 14, falling 3-0 to East Carolina to close out ECU's Pirate Invitational. NSU hit a season-best .184 in the match, with senior Anna Rupertova tallying 12 kills.
 
The day before, the Spartans dropped matches to USC Upstate (3-2) and George Washington (3-0). Junior Taylor Eichelberger led the way with 12 kills against USC Upstate, which rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win. Junior Quiana Griffin (10 kills) and Bolozan (nine kills, seven blocks) also played a big part in NSU's closest match so far this year.
 
Next Time Out
NSU plays at Maryland Eastern Shore on Oct. 4 and at Delaware State on Oct. 6.