Spartan Classic
Thursday: NSU vs. Charlotte, 7 p.m.
Friday: UMES vs. Charlotte, 4 p.m.; NSU vs. B-CU, 7 p.m.
Saturday: B-CU vs. UMES, 11 a.m.; Charlotte vs. B-CU, 3 p.m.; NSU vs. UMES, 6 p.m.
Live Stats | Live Video

NORFOLK, Va. – On the road for the first two weeks of the season, the Norfolk State volleyball team will compete at home for the first time this season in an improved Joseph Echols Hall for the Spartan Classic this Thursday through Saturday.

Charlotte, UMES and Bethune-Cookman will join the host Spartans for the three-day event, with each team playing three times. NSU will kick things off on Thursday against Charlotte at 7 p.m. The Spartans play Bethune-Cookman at 7 p.m. on Friday and UMES at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

UMES and Charlotte will also play at 4 p.m. on Friday, while Bethune-Cookman will play UMES at 11 a.m. and Charlotte at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

The matches will mark the first official competition in Echols Hall since construction began in late May on putting in chairback seating in place of the old bleachers and re-sanding and repainting the floor.

Live stats will be available for all of the matches here. There will also be a live video stream for every match through Spartan Showcase Video Streaming. Cost of the live feed is $5 for a single match or $8 for a doubleheader when a team plays twice in one day.

NSU enters the tournament with a 2-5 record overall. Bethune-Cookman stands 1-5, with the lone win coming against Savannah State last weekend. UMES stand 0-6, while Charlotte has the best pedigree of the four teams with a 3-4 record.

Last Time Out
NSU pushed West Virginia in the first and second sets but ultimately fell by a 3-0 score to open the Mountaineer Invitational last weekend. The Spartans had leads late in the first and second sets of their match with Navy later in the day on Friday, but the Midshipmen rallied for a 3-0 win.

Then on Saturday, NSU did the rallying, overcoming a 2-1 deficit to defeat Canisius by a 3-2 score. The Spartans closed out the tournament with a 3-0 loss to Fordham.

Scouting the Spartans
NSU's offense has been led by the trio of senior Goda Jankauskaite, sophomore Jessica Johnson and freshman Tori Tulensru. Jankauskaite averages 2.69 kills per set on a .225 attack percentage, while Johnson has tallied 2.36 kills and Tulensru 2.27. Only Coralie Jarema, at 1.36 kills, averages more than one kill per set among the rest of the team.

Sophomore Darcy Moore has handed out 8.31 assists and is tied with Jarema for the team lead with eight service aces. On the defensive side of the ball, redshirt junior Noelle Eagles has tallied 3.88 digs, with Jarema leading the way with 15 total blocks.

As a team, NSU ranks 80th in the nation with 1.54 service aces per set.

Record Breaking
Moore tallied 56 assists against Canisius last weekend, topping the previous NSU single-match record of 55 set by Afreya Allen against Howard on Oct. 17, 2003. Moore earned a spot on the all-tournament team for her effort. So far in her career, Moore owns the single-match and single-season records for assists and is on pace to break the career record next year.

MEAC Rankings
Moore ranks fourth in assists and Eagles stands fifth in digs in the latest MEAC statistical rankings. The only other player in the top 10 is Jankauskaite, who stands ninth in hitting percentage and 10th in kills.

As a team, NSU ranks second in opponent hitting percentage (.207), third in service aces (1.54), fourth in assists (10.00) and kills (10.42), fifth in hitting percentage (.109) and blocks (1.62) and sixth in digs (12.65).

About Charlotte
The 49ers have defeated Charleston Southern, Chattanooga and UNC Asheville so far this year with an offense that averages nearly 14 kills per set. Amanda Videmsek (3.22 kills) and Claire Kreuz (3.19) lead the way, with Taylor Cannon (2.48) and Sarah McDonald (2.28) also contributing. Britney Leigh Held directs the offense with 11.19 assists per set.

Charlotte is also strong on defense, averaging more than 16 digs and two blocks per set. Michelle Hovey paces the 49ers with 5.07 digs, and Cannon and Videmsek are the team's top blockers at 0.85 and 0.81 per set, respectively.

About Bethune-Cookman
Outside of the 3-0 win over Savannah State, the Wildcats have won just one other set, in a 3-1 loss to Jacksonville. Rhea Simon leads the Wildcats with 2.53 kills per set, followed by Delicia Pierre at 2.16. Pierre also has posted 0.37 service aces, and Alexas Thomas has handed out 7.32 assists.

Normarie Rolon, at 3.05 digs per set, and Aria Cormier, with 0.72 blocks, are the top defenders for the Wildcats.

About UMES
The Hawks lost nine of their top 10 players from a year ago, including seven who still had eligibility, after previous head coach Don Metil left to take over the Towson program. Among the newcomers, Ashley Smith leads the Hawks with 2.30 kills, wieth Petra Jerabkova second on the team at 2.18. Sonia Rosales and Jerabkova have split time at setter.

Jingqiao Li ranks second in the MEAC with 5.05 digs, while Haley Robinson is tops on UMES with 0.81 blocks per set.

Up Next
NSU will head to William & Mary on Tuesday before playing its last regular season tournament of the year next weekend at Villanova.