DURHAM, N.C. – The North Carolina Central University volleyball team enters the 2022 MEAC Volleyball Championship as the sixth seed and the Eagles will play host institution and third-seeded Delaware State University in the quarterfinals on Friday at 8:30 p.m.
MATCH INFO
Friday, Nov. 18 at 8:30 p.m.
#6 NC Central vs. #3 Delaware State
Memorial Hall Gym, Dover, Del.
MEAC VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP WEBSITE
BRACKET
LIVE STATS;
VIDEO
NC CENTRAL VOLLEYBALL
The Eagles finished the regular season with two consecutive wins to move into a tie for fifth place in the league standings. However, NCCU (7-18 Overall, 6-8 MEAC) lost the head-to-head tiebreaker with University of Maryland Eastern Shore to become to sixth seed.
NCCU will be trying to advance to the MEAC semifinals for a second straight year. If the Eagles knock off the host Hornets, NCCU will play the winner of the No. 2 Howard/No. 7 Morgan State quarterfinals match in the semifinals on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. The championship match is scheduled for Sunday at 8:30 p.m., and the other half of the bracket features No. 1 Coppin State versus No. 8 South Carolina State and No. 4 Norfolk State versus No. 5 Maryland Eastern Shore.
The freshmen duo of
Kamren Harper and
Tori Wilson were both named to the MEAC All-Rookie Team on Tuesday as they rank fifth and seventh, respectively, in the league in scoring as they each average over three points per set. Harper is sixth in the league with 2.65 kills per set while Wilson has NCCU's most blocks and she is contributing 2.34 kills per set.
In league play,
Abby Vacha has been supplying the Eagles with 1.77 kills per set. Sophomore setter
Vanila Pulu-Suliafu is fourth in the MEAC with 6.58 assists per set. Sophomore libero
Loren Johnson ranks third with 3.71 digs per set and sixth with 0.42 aces per set.
NCCU has lost both of its regular season matches against Delaware State by matching 3-0 scores. In a 25-12, 25-22, 25-14 setback in Durham on Oct. 7, Harper led the Eagles with six kills, two aces and two blocks. Three weeks later, NCCU lost 25-15, 25-13, 25-23 in Dover with Johnson supplying 17 digs and one ace. Harper also had nine kills as she was NCCU's top offensive performer in both clashes.
DELAWARE STATE VOLLEYBALL
The Hornets finished the regular season with the best overall win percentage in the league at .778 after winning their last six matches. However, Delaware State (21-6 Overall, 11-3 MEAC) did slip to third place in the conference standings with three MEAC losses.
Junior middle blocker Alondra Maldonado was named First Team All-MEAC for a second straight season after she ranked second in the league with 2.82 kills per set. Maldonado also ranks ninth in the league with 0.69 blocks per set as her 3.20 points per set is third best in the conference.
A trio of senior Hornets were named Second Team All-MEAC, including libero Jasmal Cruz, outside hitter Karen Cordero and middle blocker Sydney Lewis. Cruz is second in the MEAC with 4.33 digs per set and ninth in the league with 0.37 aces per set. Cordero is ninth in the conference with 2.37 kills per set while Lewis is the top blocker in the MEAC with 1.12 blocks per set while sporting the top hitting percentage in the conference out of qualifying players (.441).
Senior setter Malgorzata Andersohn did not earn All-MEAC attention this season, but did garner Second Team laurels in 2021 after she was the NCAA Division I statistical champion in aces per set (0.65 APS). This season, Andersohn ranks four the MEAC with 6.02 assists per set and fifth in the league with 0.43 aces per set.
DSU reached 40-plus kills in both three-set sweeps of NCCU this season, sporting a combined .282 over those two contests. Junior outside hitter Valeria Otero earned MEAC All-Tournament honors last season and she led the Hornets with 20 total kills against the Eagles this season.
