Match 20 (MEAC Contest)
Morgan State (3-16, 1-4 MEAC) vs. Delaware State (18-1, 6-0 MEAC)
Friday, October 15, 2021 | 6 p.m.
Baltimore, Md. (Hill Field House)
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BALTIMORE, Md. (Oct. 11, 2021)-Morgan State will look to get back on track, while also handing visiting Delaware State its first MEAC loss of the season, when it plays host to the Hornets this Friday, Oct. 15 at 6 p.m. at Hill Field House.
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Morgan State (3-16, 1-4 MEAC), which is riding a three-match losing skid is coming off a 3-1 (16-25, 25-21, 15-25, 26-28) loss at Norfolk State (10/10).
Makila Billingsley recorded a match-high 16 kills and
Madison Grace added 14.
Mackenzie Jefferson collected a double-double with 38 assists and 14 digs, both team highs and
Jadore Hayes added 13 digs.
Tyasia McDuffie and
Alyssa Sampson finished with 11 and 10 digs, respectively.
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Delaware State (18-1, 6-0 MEAC) extended its school-record winning streak to 14 straight, following a 3-0 (25-9, 25-11, 25-10) victory at home over South Carolina State (10/10). The win was also the Hornets' fifth consecutive shutout victory and 15th this season. Kristi Gomez hit .579 and totaled a match-high 12 kills and Jasmal Cruz had a match-high 12 digs to lead Delaware State. Jelena Dukic finished with 17 assists and Malgorzata Andersohn added 13. The Hornets recorded 39 kills, while holding South Carolina State to 12 kills. Delaware State out blocked the Bulldogs, 6.0-2.0. Sydney Lewis led the way with five combined blocks, including two solos. Mayah Ngundam had four, including one solo.
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MSU SERIES NOTES AGAINST DELAWARE STATE: Morgan State leads the all-time series, 48-18. Delaware State swept the season series during the Spring 2021 season, winning all three contests.
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NEXT UP: The Lady Bears will close out the first half of the MEAC slate on Sunday, Oct. 17, when it visits the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. First serve is slated for 1 p.m. at the Hytche Athletic Center in Princess Anne, Md.
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GRACE EARNS BACK-TO-BACK MEAC ROOKIE HONOR: Madison Grace was selected as MEAC Rookie of the Week (10/4), presented by Coca-Cola. It marked back-to-back weeks for Grace, who also earned the honor the previous week (Sept. 27) and her third time thus far. She also received the award on Sept. 13. The 5-foot-10 outside hitter had an attack percentage of .351 and totaled 17 kills and two digs in Morgan's lone contest of the week against Coppin State (10/1).
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IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME: After spending 34 days away from home, the Morgan State volleyball team finally returned home on Friday, Oct. 1 when it welcomed crosstown rival Coppin State to Hill Field House for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) home opener for the Lady Bears. It was the first home contest for Morgan State since Aug. 28, when it hosted the finale of the Baltimore Invite Tournament.
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A FRESHMAN WILL LEAD THEM: Freshman outside hitter
Madison Grace has totaled a team-leading 209 kills (3.32 kills per set). A native of Clinton Township, Mich., Grace has reached double-digits in kills 11 times this season, including the last six matches. Grace is averaging 15.3 kills per match through her first five MEAC contests and ranks third in kills per set amongst league leaders.
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SAYING GOODBYE: Morgan State will say goodbye to two seniors at the end of the season in two-year memberÂ
Kendal Hoges and four-year memberÂ
Jasmin Perry. The two will be honored during the Lady Bears' Senior Day festivities prior to their match against the University of Maryland Eastern Shore on November 7 at 1 p.m.
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ROAD WARRIORS: The Lady Bears entered its road swing to North Carolina Central (9/24) and South Carolina State (9/26) playing their fourth straight weekend and 11th and 12th consecutive matches away from home. When Morgan State finally returns home to host rival Coppin State for its MEAC home opener (Oct. 1), it will mark 34 days since the team last played in the friendly confines of Hill Field House, since hosting the Baltimore Invite Tournament (Aug. 27-28).Â
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STILL UNBEATEN: Morgan State improved to 24-0 all-time against South Carolina State, following its 3-0 sweep of the host Bulldogs (9/26) in Dukes Gymnasium in Orangeburg, S.C.
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BOZIER APPROACHING 500 WINS:Â Morgan State head coachÂ
Ramona Riley-Bozier entered the 2021 Fall season with 476 career victories, 24 wins shy of No. 500. She is now 21 wins away from the 500-win plateau. Riley-Bozier, who is the all-time winningest coach at Morgan State in any sport with 479 career victories as the volleyball coach, is also the softball program's all-time career leader with 161 victories in the nine seasons she coached at the helm.
BOZIER ENTERS 34TH SEASON:Â Morgan head coachÂ
Ramona Riley-Bozier enters her 34th season at the helm of the Lady Bear program. The all-time winningest coach at MSU (478), Riley-Bozier guided the Lady Bears to 88 consecutive MEAC Northern Division wins between 1994-2003. She has led MSU to five MEAC Championships, three NCAA Tournament appearances and earned MEAC Coach of the Year honors five times. Bozier also coached the softball team at MSU for nine seasons and in 1999 led the team to its first MEAC title game appearance. A native of Kansas City, Mo., Bozier, is a graduate of MSU, where she was a two-sport start in volleyball and track. She is one of 11 players in the history of the program to have registered 1,000 career kills. On the track, Bozier was a three-time All-American and one of the top triple jumpers at Morgan. She still holds the UMBC meet record in the 60 meter dash (1983) and ran the first leg of the 4X100 relay, which in 1986 set the school record in a time of 44.47 seconds, which also still stands. That squad would also win the Penn Relays and finished second that year at the Division I National Championships. Bozier was inducted into the Morgan State Hall of Fame in 2003.
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OPENING SERVE:Â Morgan State is 9-20 in season openers since the 1993 season, after falling to visiting Cleveland State, 3-0 in the home opener (8/27). The Lady Bears' last opening day victory was a 3-2 win at home against Seton Hall in the opener of the Morgan/Towson Invitational (8/30/19).
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MORGAN PICKED TIED FOR FOURTH IN MEAC:Â Morgan State was picked to finish tied for fourth with Maryland Eastern Shore in the eight-team Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) preseason poll, as voted by the league's head coaches and sports information directors. In 2020-21, the Lady Bears were picked to finish tied for third with Delaware State in the MEAC Northern Division and ended up third.
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2021 CAPTAINS ANNOUNCED: Junior middle hitter
Melanie Battle (La Plata, Md.) has been named 2021 team captain, while senior middle blockers
Kendal Hoges (West Orange, N.J.) and
Jasmin Perry (Bowie, Md.) will serve as co-captains.
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WELCOME TO THE CAVE:Â Morgan State welcomes the addition of eight newcomers to the 2021 squad, three freshmen, three sophomore transfers and two junior transfers. Those newcomers are freshmen
Trinity Carruthers (Grand Prairie, Texas),
Madison Grace (Clinton Township, Mich.) and
Kayla Gaddy-Middleton (Dayton, N.J.) along with sophomore transfers
Makila Billingsley (Plainfield, N.J.),
Justyus Jackson (Davenport, Iowa) and
Mackenzie Jefferson (Prosper, Texas) and junior transfers
Kamryn Brown (Evergreen Park, Ill.),
Jadore Hayes (Grapevine, Texas).
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MORGAN EARNS USMC/AVCA ACADEMIC AWARD AGAIN:Â The Lady Bears volleyball program was honored as a recipient of the United State Marine Corps (USMC) and the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the 2020-21 academic year. Morgan State had a team GPA of 3.62. It marked the second consecutive year the team has earned the award. Last season Morgan State, which received the award for the first time in program history, posted a team GPA of 3.48 for the 2019-20 academic year.
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2021 MEAC CHAMPIONSHIP:Â This year's 2021 MEAC Volleyball Championship returns back to Washington, D.C. after a year hiatus. The championship tournament, which was held in Norfolk, Va. at Norfolk State University during the 2021 Spring season, will take place November 19-21, 2021 at Burr Gymnasium on the campus of Howard University. The last time the tournament was held in the Nation's Capital was during the 2019 season. Morgan State would reach the title match that season, falling to host Howard in a five-set thriller.
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ABOUT MORGAN
Morgan State University, founded in 1867, is a Carnegie-classified doctoral research institution offering more than 100 academic programs leading to degrees from the baccalaureate to the doctorate. As Maryland'sÂ
Preeminent Public Urban Research University, Morgan serves a multiethnic and multiracial student body and seeks to ensure that the doors of higher education are opened as wide as possible to as many as possible. For more information about Morgan State University, visitÂ
www.morgan.edu.
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