Senior Day
Sunday: Delaware State at NSU, 3 p.m., Joseph Echols Hall
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NORFOLK, Va. – Five departing players will be honored on Sunday as the Norfolk State volleyball team wraps up the regular season against Delaware State at Joseph Echols Hall at 3 p.m. for Senior Day.

NSU will honor seniors Beatriz Ferreira, Nicole Kessner, Charlotte Armstead, Kristen Burt and Maatra Henderson prior to the match and then attempt to put a bow on the regular season by completing the sweep of Delaware State this year.

Live stats and a live video feed will be available for the match.

A win over the Hornets or a Hampton loss to UMES on Sunday will lock up the No. 2 seed for the Spartans in the MEAC Northern Division for next weekend's conference tournament. NSU (8-3) is currently tied with Hampton in the conference standings. The Spartans carry an overall record of 12-19 and also hold the tiebreaker over the Pirates should the teams finish with the same record.

Delaware State enters the contest with a 5-20 overall record, including 2-9 in the MEAC. UMES owns the top spot at 11-0, with Coppin State having locked up fourth place in the Northern Division at 5-6.

Armstead, one of those departing seniors, has been the team's offensive catalyst this year, averaging 3.11 kills per set. Freshman Jessica Johnson has stepped up late in the season and ranks second on the team with 2.06 kills, while Ferreira tallies 1.91 kills and junior Goda Jankauskaite has posted 1.64.

Freshman Darcy Moore leads the way with 7.32 assists, while Kessner has split time with Moore late in the year and averages 4.51. Johnson and sophomore Adriana Ramos pace the team with 0.36 and 0.32 service aces per set, respectively.

Redshirt sophomore Noelle Eagles is the team's best backcourt defender with 4.08 digs, with Ramos (1.82) and Johnson (1.74) also providing stability. Jankauskaite and junior Coralie Jarema lead in blocks with 0.77 and 0.66, respectively.

About the Five Seniors
Perhaps two of the biggest reasons NSU has been able to turn the program around over the last five years has been the play of Armstead and Kessner.

A fifth-year senior, Kessner has been the team's clear leader, even when she's been out due to injury. She easily owns the school record for assists, currently at 2,356, and is the team's best floor general during matches. She's also added 563 digs, 338 kills on a .269 hitting percentage, 59 service aces and 46 blocks.

Armstead has been just as important to the Spartan program, giving NSU a clear offensive weapon during her time on the court. She is the only NSU player ever to have more than 1,000 career kills and owns the career records for kills (1,133), attacks (2,621), sets played (431), block assists (204) and total blocks (257).

A two-year player out of junior college, Ferreira stepped into the lineup last year and became a solid complement to Armstead at the outside hitter position. She ranks 10th all-time in kills with 462 and has also added 140 digs, 71 blocks, 27 service aces and 12 assists during her time at NSU.

Burt has been Kessner's back up at setter during her career but was thrust into the starting role in 2011 after Kessner was lost for the season. She finished with the third-most assists in a season in NSU annals and is one of just six Spartan players to ever top 1,000 career assists.

Henderson has been a key role player for the Spartans, playing at outside hitter as well as in the back row during her four-year career. She owns career marks of 167 digs, 81 kills, 23 assists, 16 blocks and 12 service aces.

Tough Outing
NSU had the top team in the MEAC, UMES, on the ropes on Friday, but the Spartans could not finish the deal in a 3-2 loss to the Hawks at Gill Gymnasium. The Spartans had a 2-0 lead in the match and held leads of 17-14 in the fourth set and 14-12 in the fifth. The Hawks, though, held off match point twice in that fifth set and won in extra points to go home victorious.

The loss broke NSU's six-match win streak.

About Delaware State
The Hornets have won just two contests in conference play, both against last-place Howard. They also own victories over St. Peter's, Gardner-Webb and La Salle. In the team's earlier meeting this year in Dover, Del., NSU won in four sets, 25-22, 25-27, 25-11, 25-17.

Jessica Croucher-Russell leads the Hornets on the offensive end with 2.51 kills, while Edarkis Branch has posted 2.30 kills as well. Christobel Fakaosi has posted 8.46 assists, and Croucher-Russell leads the way with 0.39 service aces. Defensively, Laisha Davis paces the way with 0.94 blocks, and Jasmine Jackson has a team-leading 2.43 digs.

Up Next
If the Spartans lock up the No. 2 seed, they will play in the quarterfinal round of the MEAC tournament next Friday at Coppin State at 7 p.m. If the Spartans fall to the No. 3 seed, they will play at 10 a.m. NSU could potentially face South Carolina State, North Carolina Central or Bethune-Cookman.