Oct. 24, 2007

DURHAM, NC - North Carolina Central University senior outside hitter Shari Matthews broke the school record for career service aces when the Eagles defeated the Rams of Winston-Salem State University, 3-0, Tuesday night inside McLendon-McDougald Gymnasium.

Matthews, a native of Bridgetown, Barbados, served up five aces against the Rams to pass Latoya Tate (2004-06), who previously held the record with 215 aces. Playing in only her second season with the Eagles, Matthews has 217 career services aces... and counting

So far in 2007, Matthews would rank fourth in the nation with an average of 0.82 aces per game if NCCU was eligible for the NCAA Division I statistical rankings.

On Friday (Oct. 19), Matthews again made history as she broke NCCU's women's volleyball record for most kills in Eagles history with 1,348. That record had been previously held by Danielle Johnson-Webb (2000, 2003-05) with 1,346 kills.

The magical kill occurred late into the third game on the way to a (3-0) sweep against Hampton University. The Eagles cruised to victory by scores of 30-15, 30-22, and 30-26. Matthews finished the match with 12 kills, 20 digs and five service aces.

In 2006, Matthews became NCCU's first volleyball All-American and was voted the NCAA Division II National Player of the Year after leading the nation with an average of 6.37 kills and 0.92 service aces per game, while also breaking the NCAA Division II record for kills in a season with 974.