NORFOLK, Va. – After four matches to start the season, the Spartans will now turn to conference play this week. The Norfolk State volleyball team travels down to North Carolina A&T to take on the Aggies this week.
 
Match 1 of the two-match series will kick off at 4 p.m. on Thursday at A&T's Moore Gymnasium. The two teams will play again at 1 p.m. on Friday. Every MEAC Southern Division series this year will consist of a Thursday-Friday schedule against the same opponent.

A&T will have live stats as well as live video (Thursday and Friday) for the two matches.
 
The Spartans enter the MEAC portion of their schedule following a pair of losses over the past week to Delaware State, 3-1 at home last Thursday and then 3-0 on Monday at DSU's Memorial Hall. That dropped their record to 1-3 on the year.
 
The Aggies, picked to win the Southern Division, have played just one time so far after several matches to start the year were postponed. N.C. A&T dropped a 3-1 contest to East Carolina last Friday at home to finally begin its season.
 
In the first match of the home-and-home with DSU, the Hornets won 25-20 and 25-17 before the Spartans used the five-minute intermission to regroup. They won the third set by a 25-19 margin and were tied at 21-21 with Delaware State in the fourth. The Hornets, however, won the last four points for a 25-21 fourth-set win.
 
DSU did not need any extra time to win on Monday on its home court, defeating the Spartans 25-15, 25-16 and 25-19. Neither match counted toward MEAC standings due to the teams settling into different divisions this year.
 
Who Did What
Senior Rachel Williams had 10 kills in the first match with Delaware State, and she leads the Spartans with 2.27 kills per set. Junior Paola Maradei added six kills that day, while senior Taylor Eichelberger contributed a team-high six kills in the second match with DSU. Both players, along with freshman Paola Matos, are second on the team with 1.40 kills per set.
 
Junior libero Nicole Rodriguez continued her strong start to the season with 29 total digs over the two matches. She is now at 5.13 digs per set, which puts her in the top 50 in the nation. Also on defense, Maradei had a combined six blocks and is now sitting at 0.87 per set for the team lead.
 
Thanks in part to her six service aces last Thursday, freshman Jaida Bynum ranks in the top 80 in the nation in aces per set at 0.54. The Spartans stand 73^rd in the nation as a team with 1.60 aces per set.
 
A&T at a Glance
The Aggies received 18 of the 20 first-place votes in the preseason voting that was done last August. Since then, Bethune-Cookman and Florida A&M have opted out of the volleyball spring season. A&T's run to a division title will now have to run through North Carolina Central and South Carolina State in addition to the Spartans. The Aggies went 13-1 in the MEAC last year.
 
Eddie Brewer, the MEAC Preseason Player of the Year, had 30 assists, 11 digs and three aces in A&T's four-set loss to East Carolina. Courteney Pitt, another Preseason All-MEAC honoree, had 16 kills and eight digs. Fatimah Shabazz totaled 11 kills to help pace the Aggie attack.
 
Andrea Laboy-Rivera led all players with 24 digs, and she earned the MEAC Defensive Specialist of the Week award on Monday. Brewer was tabbed the MEAC Setter of the Week.
 
Series Stack-Up
The Aggies have won the last three meetings over the last three years with NSU, including a 3-0 victory last season in conference play. A&T now leads the all-time series, 24-8.
 
The Spartans did win nine in a row between 2008 and '12, although two of those wins were later vacated. Their last win in the series came in 2016 at home, a 3-2 victory that helped salvage a season split with the Aggies in a home-and-home, non-conference series that year.
 
Where to Next
The Spartans will travel to UNCW next Tuesday for a non-conference match before hosting South Carolina State on Feb. 18 and 19 for their next MEAC series.