Nov. 13, 2009
Final Stats
DOVER, Del. - North Carolina Central University struggled to stop the powerful offense of Delaware State, which was anchored by the Hornets' lone senior, who proved to be too much for NCCU Friday night in Memorial Hall, leading the Hornets to a 3-0 (25-17, 25-12, 25-23) sweep over the Eagles on Senior Night.
Maritsann Sinclair led the Eagles on offense with five kills, followed by Shantel Moore with four. Kiara Brown finished the match with 14 assists, contributing significantly on offense for the Eagles. NCCU tallied one service ace, which came from the hands of Brown.
Moore was the leader on the net for NCCU tonight, recording one solo block and three assisted blocks. Tasha-Gaye Richards and Sashalee Wallen each added two block assists, to help on the defensive end. Belinda Behncke-Biney and Brown collected nine digs apiece to lead the Eagles in that category.
Once again, the Eagles continued their consistency on the net with six total blocks, outnumbering the Hornets in that category. NCCU hit .028 with 18 kills on 72 attempts. The Eagles struggled to find a rhythm with errors that proved to be costly. Delaware State forced 16 attack errors and 13 receiving errors.
Delaware State senior Cassandra Joyner hit .286 with a game-high 14 kills. She was assisted by Martina Ferrari with a game-high 29 assists. Defensively, the Hornets were led by Sonja Banicevic with 10 digs and Joyner with three solo blocks and one assisted block.
As a team, the Hornets hit .208 with 40 kills on 96 attempts. NCCU's defense forced 20 attack errors and one receiving error, which came off of Brown's service ace. Delaware State notched 13 service aces and five total blocks, while leading in kills, assists and digs.
The Eagles dropped to 8-22 with two matches remaining in the season. Delaware State improved to 19-12 on the season and concluded regular season play with the MEAC Championships on the horizon. The Hornets improved to 2-0 in the series against the Eagles.
NCCU will return to action tomorrow when they head to Princess Anne, Md. to face the Hawks of Maryland Eastern Shore in the Battle of the Birds. First serve is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Following Saturday's match, the Eagles will return home to host rival North Carolina A&T in their final match of the season.
Eagle fans will be able to catch all of the action live. UMES will provide live coverage of the match with live statistics as well as a live audio and video stream of the Eagles' match against the Hawks, free of charge, through the UMES website at www.umeshawks.com.
For more information on Eagle volleyball, visit the official website of NCCU Athletics at www.NCCUEaglePride.com.
