Ashley Johnson recorded career highs in kills (11) and digs (10) against Kent State.
Morgan State 0, Kent State 3
CLEVELAND, Ohio (Sept. 10, 2010)-Morgan State played the first match of the Cleveland State Invitational on Friday afternoon against Kent State and dropped a 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-14) decision to the Golden Flashes at Woodling Gym. The loss was the Lady Bears second to Kent State in as many meetings and was the seventh consecutive loss this season.
Kent State, which improved to 5-4 on the season was led by Liva Brivule, who finished with a match-high 15 kills and added 10 digs. Kristen Barr finished with a match-high 16 digs, while Lauren Jones tallied a team-high 21 assists.
Morgan State (1-7) was led by Ashley Johnson, who finished with a team-high 11 kills and added 10 digs, both career highs. Dina Beamon led Morgan State with 11 digs and #Ngebui (Natalie) Chafeh# totaled 21 of Morgan State's 26 digs.
Kent State finished the match with 36 kills and committed 11 errors for a hitting percentage of .275, while Morgan State tallied 28 kills, but committed 29 errors for a hitting percentage of -.009. Both teams totaled 42 digs and Kent State held a 30-26 advantage in assists. But the biggest difference came in the blocks category, as the Golden Flashes notched 25 to hold a 14-3 advantage over Morgan State. Brianne Wille tallied nine of the Golden Flashes blocks. The Lady Bears finished with five total blocks, with Dominique Bozier recording three of them.
Morgan State used a 4-0 run to take a 9-7 advantage in the opening set, but the Golden Flashes countered with a 9-2 spurt, including five straight points to take a 16-11 advantage. Morgan State got within 19-15, but Kent State closed out on a 6-2 run for the 25-17 victory.
The Lady Bears began the second set scoring the first four points, following back-to-back kills by Johnson, which led to Kent State using a timeout. The Golden Flashes responded with a 7-2 run to take a 7-6 lead, then extended their cushion with a 9-2 run to go up 16-9. Morgan State battled back to pull within 18-15 and 20-17 after an ace by Johnson. But that would be as close as the Lady Bears would get, as Kent State close out scoring the last five points for the 25-17 win.
Kent State used a mini 6-0 spurt to extend a 9-7 advantage into a 15-7 cushion, which all but sealed up the win. Morgan State got within 17-11 after back-to-back kills from Bozier, but the Golden Flashes finished off the win scoring eight of the last 11 points scored for the 25-14 victory.
Morgan State returns to action on Saturday, Sept. 11, when it takes on host Cleveland State at 1 p.m. The Lady Bears then close out with DC foe, George Washington at 4:30 p.m. Both matches will be played Woodling Gym. The Cleveland State match will be streamed live online at http://www.horizonleaguenetwork.tv/live/1412.
