DURHAM, North Carolina – The North Carolina Central University volleyball squad wraps up the 2014 regular season after a pair of home Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference matches.
The Eagles host South Carolina State on Friday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m., in the Leroy T. Walker Complex, followed by "Senior Day" on Sunday, Nov. 9 at 2 p.m., in McDougald-McLendon Gymnasium where NCCU will honor five senior student-athletes;
Ashley McCarthy (Elmont, New York),
Alice Genna (Rome, Italy),
Denni Johnson (Ashburn, Virginia),
Da'sha Brown (Gaston, South Carolina) and
Emily Eswonia (Tempe, Arizona).
LAST TIME AGAINST SCSUJohnson earned a career-best five service aces, while tying the NCCU single-game high in the Division I era, as the Eagles suffered a 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 26-24, 25-22) setback to the South Carolina State University Lady Bulldogs on Sunday, Oct. 12, in Orangeburg, South Carolina.
In addition to the five service aces, Johnson also added a team-best 14 kills while McCarthy trailed with 12.
Paige Phillips (Birmingham, Alabama) and Genna split time at the setter position dishing 20 and 17 helpers respectively.
Defensively,
Melissa Rabell Pineiro (Canovanas, Puerto Rico) amassed ten digs while
Kelly Rossip (Port Charlotte, Florida) collected four blocks.
LAST TIME AGAINST SSUMcCarthy and Johnson combined for 22 of the teams 38 kills as NCCU collected its first win of the season with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-22) sweep over the Savannah State Tigers on Friday, Oct. 10, in Savannah, Georgia.
McCarthy led the way offensively for the Eagles for the second straight contest, finishing with a game-best 12 kills (.474) while Johnson trailed adding 10 kills and two service aces.
The win also marked first-year head coach
Nicki Holmes' first victory at the helm.
Genna and Phillips shared time at the setter position, dishing a combined 30 assists with 19 and 11 respectively.
Defensively, sophomore
Kelsey Murphy (Rancho Cucamonga, California) earned a game-best 11 digs, leading NCCU.
LEADING NCCUMurphy continues to lead NCCU offensively on the season with 257 kills (2.86 k/s) and 35 service aces, earning her a top-five spot in the MEAC standings with .39 aces per set. She has also collected a team second-best 176 digs and 26.0 total blocks.
Trailing Murphy offensively, McCarthy and Brown have collected 156 and 147 kills respectively, while running the offense for the Eagles has been Phillips who has dished 483 (5.55 a/s) assist on the season, ranking her in the top-ten in league play.
Defensively, junior Rabell Piniero heads NCCU with 258 digs on the season (2.93 d/s), in addition to McCarthy's team-best 61.0 blocks.
