Dover, Del. (Oct. 7, 2021) --- The sizzling Delaware State women's volleyball team will host North Carolina Central on Friday (Oct. 8) in a battle between the MEAC's top two teams early in the conference race. Start time is set for 6:00 p.m.
The Hornets have won a school-record 12 straight contests to stand at 16-1 overall, the best record after 17 matches in team history, and sit atop the MEAC at 4-0 in the current standings.   
Delaware State has won by 3-0 scores 10 times and taken 36 of 38 sets during the win streak. The Hornets have 13 shutout wins, including the last three contests, and are 49-7 in sets played this year (12-1 in MEAC).
The Eagles have won their last three matches, including a 3-2 victory over MEAC preseason favorite Coppin State on Sep. 26, to stand at 4-8 overall and 3-0 in conference play.
The Hornets are dominating MEAC statistical categories, while also ranking high in several NCAA team and individual charts.
The Hornets are No. 1 among all NCAA Division I teams in opponent hitting percentage at .110.
DSU is also No. 1 in the MEAC in hitting percentage (.255), assists (13.25 per set), kills (14.11 per set), blocks (2.11 per set) and service aces (2.23 per set).
Delaware State is also second in the nation in service aces and fifth in total aces with 125 in 56 sets.
The Hornets' .941 win percentage is fourth-best in the nation, while DSU is sixth in Division I in assists per set.
Individually, Delaware State's Malgorzata Andersohn is No. 2 among all NCAA Div. I players in aces per set (.74) and eighth in total aces (31), while teammate Kristi Gomez ranks third in the MEAC and is tied for ninth nationally in total with 30. Andersohn also ranks fifth in the MEAC in assists (6.57 per set) entering this weekend's matches.
DSU's Adriana Rodriguez is tops in the MEAC and 14^th best in the nation with a (.421) hitting percentage.
Hornets' middle blocker Alondra Maldonado, a two-time MEAC Player-of-the-Week, is second in the league in kills (3.45 per set) and third with a .359 hitting percentage.
Delaware State's Sydney Lewis is the current MEAC leader in blocks at 1.13 per set, while Maldonado is seventh at 0.78 and Rodriguez eighth (0.78).
DSU's Jasmal Cruz ranks fifth in the MEAC in digs at 4.0 per set.
Valerio Otero, the reigning MEAC Player of the Week, is eighth in the league in kills (2.82 per set) entering this weekend's competition.
Delaware State's 2021 NCAA RPI ranking of 183 is tops among MEAC programs and the highest in recorded team history.   
Delaware State and North Carolina Central did not meet during the abbreviated spring 2021 MEAC season. The Eagles won the lone 2019 contest 3-2 in Durham, N.C.