DURHAM, N.C. – After six-straight road contests, the North Carolina Central University volleyball program returns home to host the Elon Phoenix in a non-conference battle on Tuesday, Sept. 23 at 7 p.m., in McDougald-McLendon Gymnasium.

Dr. Monica Leach, associate vice chancellor for enrollment management at NCCU, will serve as the Eagles honorary captain during the match. 

LAST TIME OUT
NCCU (0-15) fell to Pepperdine, 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-14) to open the Residence Inn Invitational in Tempe, Ariz., Friday, Sept. 19 before dropping a pair of matches to two top-25 ranked opponents on Saturday. The Eagles suffered a 3-0 (25-9, 25-14, 25-11) loss to the tournament host No. 18 Arizona State, followed by a 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-12) setback against the No. 8 Colorado State Rams.

Redshirt junior Denni Johnson (Ashburn, Va.) and senior Ashley McCarthy (Elmont, N.Y.) received all-tournament honors for the Eagles.

LEADING NCCU
Sophomore Kelsey Murphy (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) continues to lead NCCU offensively on the season with 103 kills (2.59 k/s) and 12 service aces. She has also collected 77 digs and 13 total blocks.

Trailing Murphy offensively, senior Da'sha Brown (Gaston, S.C.) and junior Kelly Rossip (Port Charlotte, Fla.) have collected 87 and 78 kills respectively, while running the offense for the Eagles has been rookie Paige Phillips (Birmingham, Ala.), who has dished 267 (6.07 a/s) assist on the season.

Defensively, junior Marilyn Sherbondy (Fayetteville, N.C.) heads NCCU with 103 digs on the season (3.03 d/s), in addition to McCarthy's team-best 36.0 blocks.

SCOUTING THE PHOENIX
Elon (4-10) is coming off a three-match losing skid as the Phoenix suffered three setbacks at the Deacon Classic Sept. 19-20 in Wake Forest. Elon fell 3-0 (26-24, 25-13, 25-21) to Western Carolina, was swept 3-0 (25-20, 25-14, 25-19) by Winthrop and dropped a 3-1 (25-19, 22-25, 25-14, 25-18) battle to Wake Forest.
Kris Harris and Sydney Busa had strong defensive performances in Wake Forest, with Harris averaging 1.27 blocks per set, along with a career-high nine blocks against the Demon Deacons, and Busa averaging 1.08 blocks per set.

Prior to the Deacon Classic over the weekend, the Phoenix picked up a sweep 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-12) over North Carolina A&T Wednesday, Sept. 17 in Elon.

SERIES WITH ELON
The Eagles and the Phoenix have met every season since NCCU's division-I transition, with the exception of 2008. In those matches, Elon is a perfect 7-0. The programs last met in the 2013 Elon Phoenix Classic where the Phoenix defeated NCCU, 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-11).

UP NEXT
The Eagles open Mid-Eastern Atheltic Conference action on Friday, Sept. 27 as NCCU travels to Greensboro, N.C., to take on the rival Aggies from North Carolina A&T at 7 p.m.