Monarchs Travel Across Town to Play at Norfolk State Tuesday

Old Dominion (3-6, 0-0 Sun Belt) at Norfolk State (0-7, 0-0 MEAC)
Game Info – Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 6 p.m. EST
Location – Gill Gymnasium (Norfolk, Va.)
Stream – HBCU League Pass Plus
Live Stats – CLICK HERE

NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion volleyball team opens its final week of non-conference play with a short ride across Norfolk to play at Norfolk State on Tuesday. Scheduled for a 6 p.m. start at Gill Gymnasium, live stats will be available and the match will be streamed on HBCU League Pass Plus.

Tuesday marks just the second meeting between the two programs. ODU defeated NSU in straight sets last season on Sept. 18 to conclude the 2021 Quest for the Crown. Theresa Atilano was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player and was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Myah Conway and Hailey Duncan.

About ODU
Down two sets to one, the Monarchs (3-6) edged Navy 16-14  in the fifth set to rally for a 3-2 victory on the first day of the Quest for the Crown tournament last Thursday at the ODU Volleyball Center. ODU also forced a fifth set against Notre Dame on Friday, but fell short 15-12 in the decisive set. The team then rounded out its home tournament with a 3-0 loss to East Carolina on Saturday.

Conway represented the Monarchs on the All-Tournament Team. The sophomore from Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania led ODU with 40 kills (3.08 per set) while hitting for .273. She added 12 digs, 11 blocks, and one assist to her tournament totals.

Conway leads the team this season with 80 kills and 91.5 points. Atilano is up to 231 assists and currently ranks 28th nationally and third in the Sun Belt with 17 service aces. She also ranks 49th in the country and fourth in the league with 0.53 aces per set. Jamie Bissmeyer also has double-digit aces with 12 and owns a team-high 102 digs, while Anna Burkhardt is next in digs with 73. At the net, Bailey Burgess and Duncan have recorded 34 and 30 blocks, respectively.

As a team, the Monarchs are third in the SBC in total blocks (73) and are fourth in blocks per set (2.21).

About Norfolk State
NSU is in search of its first win of the season as the Spartans enter the contest 0-7 overall. The team played at Tennessee’s Rocky Top Classic over the weekend and opening the tournament with a 3-2 loss to the Citadel on Friday. Saturday saw NSU fall in straight sets to the host Volunteers before suffering a 3-0 setback to New Hampshire.

Freshman setter Sydney McCree was named the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Rookie of the Week on Monday after posting three double-doubles in four matches last week, averaging 6.6 assists and 2.6 digs per set. A native of Durham, N.C., she set career highs in assists (39), digs (10), and service aces (4) in a 3-2 loss to Hampton last Wednesday. She followed that outing with 28 assists and 15 digs against The Citadel before tallying 20 assists and 11 digs versus New Hampshire.

Shonte Seale is the team’s leader in points (82.5) and kills (77), while McCree is the primary setter with 171 assists. She and teammate Paola Matos have combined to serve 15 aces. On the defensive side of the net, Nicole Rodriguez has 105 digs while Adlene Jideofor owns a team-best 17 blocks. Seale ranks second in the MEAC with 2.96 kills per set, and Rodriguez is fourth in the conference in digs per set (4.20) and fifth in total digs.

The Spartans were picked to finish sixth in the MEAC Preseason Poll with one first-place vote and 60 total points.

Up Next
The Monarchs are in Richmond, Virginia this Friday and Saturday for the VCU Invitational inside the Siegel Center. ODU will play twice on Friday, beginning with a 10 a.m. match versus North Carolina before taking on UMBC at 3 p.m. The team then meets the tournament hosts Saturday at 6 p.m.