DURHAM, North Carolina – The North Carolina Central University volleyball team (1-22, 1-4 MEAC) closes out the 2014 regular season with five-straight home Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference matches, opening with the rival North Carolina A&T Aggies (3-18, 3-2 MEAC) on Sunday, Oct. 26 at 2 p.m., inside McDougald-McLendon Gymnasium.

LAST TIME OUT
The Eagles battled the Charleston Southern Buccaneers, falling 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-18) on Wednesday, Oct. 15, in McDougald-McLendon Gymnasium.
Outside hitter Kelsey Murphy (Rancho Cucamonga, California) led the NCCU offense and defense with 11 kills (.226) and seven digs.

LAST TIME AGAINST NCAT
NCCU dropped a 3-1 (21-25, 25-22, 25-10, 25-11) match, as the Eagles (0-17) opened Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play on the road, falling to the North Carolina A&T Aggies (1-16) on Friday, Sept. 26 in Moore Gym.

The Eagles opened the road-match scoring first during the opening set and leading for the majority of the game. The Eagles used a 3-0 run, tailed by a block from junior's Kelly Rossip (Port Charlotte, Fla.) and Denni Johnson (Ashburn, Va.) to seal the 25-21 victory.

With momentum in their favor, the Eagles took an early 11-4 lead to start off the second set.

The Aggies pushed out a 5-0 stretch to bring the game within two points.

Senior Da'sha Brown (Gaston, S.C.) broke the NCAT scoring run, although the Aggies answered with a 7-1 advantage, giving them the 16-13 lead.

NCAT continued to hold the second set advantage pulling away with the 25-22 win.

After the ten minute break, NCCU was unable to regain its offensive spark scoring 10 points in the third set and 11 during the fourth and final game.

The Eagles were led offensively by Murphy and Brown's 12 kills apiece, while Johnson added 11.

Rookie Paige Phillips (Birmingham, Ala.) dished a team-best 26 helpers during the loss, while on the defensive end junior Marilyn Sherbondy (Fayetteville, N.C.) picked up 15 digs.

LEADING NCCU
Murphy continues to lead NCCU offensively on the season with 183 kills (2.44 k/s) and 30 service aces, earning her a second place spot in the MEAC standings with .40 aces per set. She has also collected 146 digs and 20.0 total blocks.

Trailing Murphy offensively, senior Ashley McCarthy (Elmont, New York) and Johnson have collected 132 and 124 kills respectively, while running the offense for the Eagles has been rookie Phillips who has dished 418 (5.81 a/s) assist on the season, ranking her 9th in league play.

Defensively, junior Melissa Rabell Piniero (Canovanas, Puerto Rico) heads NCCU with 193 digs on the season (2.61 d/s), in addition to McCarthy's team-best 51.0 blocks.

SCOUTING THE AGGIES
NCAT will conclude its six-match road series on Sunday when it visits rival NCCU. The Aggies have been on the road since Oct. 3 and have posted a 2-3 record.

Before beginning the road swing A&T won its first match, a 3-1 decision over NCCU on Sept. 26 at Moore Gymnasium.

In that match, sophomore Liz Martino and junior Brooke Stamnes both tallied double-doubles in the win. Stamnes recorded a match-high 16 kills and 14 digs. Martino chipped in a match-high 33 assists and added 10 digs.

During the road series, the Aggies have been led by Stamnes (2.71) and junior Aleena McDaniel (2.47) in kills. Defensively several Aggies have chipped in and are second in the MEAC in digs (13.78).

SERIES WITH NCAT
The Eagles and the Aggies have met every season since NCCU's division-I transition in 2007.

NCCU currently holds a 12-4 advantage over NCAT, although the rival Aggies have taken the last three matches from the Eagles.

UP NEXT
The Eagles host Bethune-Cookman on Friday, Oct. 31 at 7 p.m., during a rematch of NCCU's 3-2 defeat on Oct. 5 in Daytona Beach, Florida.