Spartans Ready for 2024 Season

NORFOLK, Va. - The Norfolk State volleyball team’s 2024 season begins with the Norfolk State Tournament at home on Aug. 30-31 at Joseph Echols Hall. The Spartans enter the season projected fifth in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) by the league’s preseason poll. 

Head coach Kathy Bullock, entering her fifth season, comes off a historic 2023 season that landed the first Rookie of the Year recipient and All-MEAC First Team selection in school history in Gabrielle Gilbert.

“I’ve been using this summer to get better. It’s always been about improvement and being one step ahead of where I was last year,” Gilbert said. ”I want to bring better energy, greater impact, and a bigger role for the team, whilst also becoming MEAC Player of the Year this season.”

The outside hitter from Indianapolis, Ind., Gilbert took the MEAC by storm last year, ranking second in kills per set (3.58) and third in points (331.5), during her incredible freshman campaign. The six-time MEAC weekly honoree led the Spartans in four statistical categories: kills per set, points, total kills (297), and attack percentage (.267).

“Gabby is going to continue to grow, she is a quality student-athlete,” Bullock said. “She worked well over the summer and I am expecting great things from her. She wants to win and everyone around her wants to win as well, so we have high standards that we want to meet.”

Norfolk State returns 11 including Gilbert from last year’s squad, picking up nine newcomers: three transfers and six freshmen. 

Sydney McCree, a setter/opposite from Durham, N.C. who led the Spartans in assists the past two seasons, returns for year three of her campaign as the main facilitator for the Spartans.

“It’s great to have her as our consistent leader that can run the offense, because my offense is very dynamic and I think it’s the most dynamic offense in the country,” Bullock stated. “It’s good to have that experienced setter coming back and I am so excited to see what she can do in her junior year.”

McCree garnered her 1,000th career assist last season against Morgan State, finishing the season with 668 assists, averaging 8.05 assists per set. She also garnered 28 service aces which led the team.

The second leading blocker on the team last year, Adlene Jideofor will bring leadership and experience to the Spartans this season at the middle blocker position as one of only two graduate students on the roster. 

Jideofor finished with 51.0 total blocks last season, averaging 0.61 blocks per set, in 23 matches. 

“She is a leader day in and day out, always getting better every year, so it’s good to see that she has that extra year to complete her role of an experienced middle blocker,” Bullock said. “To have her as a leader in the middle is really special, because we are very young in that position, but with Adlene being there it makes things easier to transition others into their roles.” 

Jideofor is honored to step up as the leader in the youngest position group on the team.  

“I think of it as a blessing, to use the knowledge given to me by Coach Kathy over the years to feed it off to the younger players,” Jideofor said. “When I graduate, I want to see them continue to get better every year because I want to see the program succeed.” 

Of the newcomers, Jordan Lyons and Lily Rose-Pichon bring NCAA and NJCAA Tournament familiarity. 

Lyons, a 2024 NCAA Women of the Year nominee, comes from the University of Mary Washington after leading the No. 20 ranked Eagles to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Regional Volleyball Tournament in 2023.  

Lyons received a First Team All-Coast-To-Coast selection after finishing top five in four statistical categories in the C2C: kills per set (2.95), total kills (357), digs per set (4.16), and total digs (503). 

Rose-Pichon transferred from Colby Community College in Kansas, receiving All-Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference First Team selection last season.  

She led No. 16 ranked Colby to a 23-11 record, a KJCCC Region VI Championship title, and NJCAA Division 1 Tournament appearance. 

Rose-Pichon ranked first in the nation in digs with 726 at the NJCAA Division I level, 19 more than the runner-up, and finished second nationally in digs per set (5.90). 

“It’s amazing because Jordan and Lily are important because they have the mindset and the mentality that when the game is on the line, they still look the same way as when the game wasn’t on the line.” Bullock said. 

Six freshmen join the Spartans this season: setters Jasmine Mataira and Mariyah Young, outside hitter Tehani Moniz, and middle blockers Reagan Chisholm, Erin Armstrong, and Hannah Johnson. 

“The great pieces along with the right mindset allow for the team to think about the next step and ask ourselves: ‘What’s the next step for the program and what is the best way to accomplish the goals we set for our team?” Bullock said. 

The Spartans finished with a 9-14 overall record in 2023, whilst posting a 7-7 record in the MEAC in consecutive seasons, tying for the program’s second-most MEAC wins. Nine is the most MEAC wins in Norfolk State history, set in 2012.  

Norfolk State will open the season at home for the first time (outside of COVID) since 2010 as the Spartans will host Lamar University, Miami (OH) University, and Gardner-Webb. Game play begins at 10 a.m. with the Spartans facing the Bulldogs.