NOTE: NSU's match at ODU set for Sunday, Jan. 31 has been postponed due to a positive COVID-19 result among ODU's Tier 1 personnel.

NORFOLK, Va. – After opening its season with a home win over George Mason, the Norfolk State volleyball team will be back in action twice this weekend. The Spartans will first host VCU on Friday at 4 p.m. at Joseph Echols Hall before heading across town to take on Old Dominion on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the ODU Volleyball Center.
 
Norfolk State will have live video and live stats available for its match against VCU. ODU will also have live video and live stats for the contest against the Spartans on Sunday.
 
The Spartans have built plenty of momentum to start the year after downing the Patriots 3-2 on Sunday evening at Echols Hall. NSU won the first and third sets, 25-20 and 25-18, while GMU won the second and fourth sets. The Spartans went up 6-2 in the fifth, fell behind by one, and then scored three straight points to eventually take the last set 15-12.
 
It marked NSU's first official match in a little more than 14 months after the 2020 fall season was suspended to spring 2021 due to COVID-19.
 
Three Spartans were rewarded by the MEAC with weekly honors on Monday: Nicole Rodriguez (Defensive Specialist of the Week), Heliceliz Rivera (Setter of the Week) and Paola Matos (Rookie of the Week). All three players competed in their first match in the NSU uniform on Sunday. Rodriguez and Rivera, both juniors, transferred to Norfolk State from junior college.
 
Rodriguez had 27 digs, the most by an NSU player since 2012. Rivera finished with 36 assists, 17 digs, five kills and four blocks, and Matos contributed eight kills, nine digs and three blocks. Rachel Williams led the Spartans with 15 kills as she also made her NSU debut after arriving from Arkansas Fort-Smith.
 
Norfolk State will play six non-conference matches this year, including a home-and-home with Delaware State beginning next week along with a trip to UNC Wilmington later in February. The Spartans will play in the MEAC Southern Division this spring along with North Carolina Central, North Carolina A&T and South Carolina State.
 
Fan Attendance Update
Due to State of Virginia restrictions according to the most recent Amendment to the Executive Order 67, only guests of the participating teams and a limited number of NSU students will be allowed in Echols Hall during matches. The matches are not open to the public under the current Amendment
 
Student tickets can be picked up in advance at the NSU Ticket Office during normal business hours during the week of the match. Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis and are not transferable. Students must show an ID at the ticket window. There is no charge for the student tickets.
 
More About VCU, ODU
Virginia Commonwealth began the year with a pair of 3-0 wins at Liberty and at Old Dominion. The Rams hit .337 in the two wins and were a force at the net with 2.83 blocks per set. Four different players averaged at least two kills per set to begin the year, including top scorer Lauren King at 3.67 kills. Jasmine Knight added 2.83 kills and 1.50 blocks, while two of her teammates in Qairo Bentley (1.17) and Kylie Loftis (1.00) also averaged at least one block per set. Bentley also contributed 2.50 kills and a team-leading 3.83 digs.
 
ODU began the program's inaugural season over the weekend with three matches at home. In their first-ever contest as an NCAA Division I program, the Monarchs topped George Mason 3-0 last Friday. They of course fell to VCU on Saturday before coming away with a 3-2 win over Delaware State on Sunday. Alessia Sgherza posted 3.64 kills per set to lead the ODU offense. Hailey Duncan and Madelyn Grunza each averaged 2.27 kills during the opening weekend, and Duncan had a team-high 12 blocks. The Monarchs hit .217 and had 2.36 blocks per set as a team.
 
Atlantic 10 Defeat
NSU took down a current member of the Atlantic 10 Conference for the first time in 21 tries with the victory over George Mason. It marked just the second-ever meeting between NSU and GMU. The two programs first met in 2018 during the Georgetown Classic, a 3-0 victory for the Patriots.
 
The Spartans will look to do the same against another A-10 member in VCU.
 
Series History
NSU and VCU have met eight times over the years, with the Rams coming out on top each time. The last meeting came in 2016 in Richmond, and the Spartans last hosted the Rams in 2012. Norfolk State has never taken a set against VCU in those eight all-time meetings.
 
NSU and ODU, of course, are playing for the first time ever. The teams did meet in 2019 in a join practice at NSU's Gill Gymnasium while ODU was still building its program up.