Keirra Outlin (7) totaled a team-high 13 digs to go with nine kills, while Erin Cox (8) led MSU with 14 kills and 10 digs against B-CU.
No. 3 South: Bethune Cookman 3, No. 2 North: Morgan State 2
BALTIMORE, Md. (Nov. 18, 2011)-Morgan State came into the Coppin Physical Education Complex (PEC) on quite a roll, finishing in second-place in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) North Division. But they were matched up against a very tough Bethune-Cookman squad which has always been scrappy and makes teams work for every point.
Unfortunately for the Lady Bears, B-CU took advantage of their mistakes and eliminated the Lady Bears, 3-2 (15-25, 25-18, 17-25, 25-20, 15-13) in the quarterfinals of the MEAC volleyball tournament championship on Friday night.
“I knew going in that we had our work cut out for us,” said Morgan State head coach Ramona Riley-Bozier. “Krysta Gardner and Janeen Davis have been pretty consistent all year long. Just looking at the stats, they've been their go to hitters. I knew that we would need to come out there and play our best. Tonight, our best just wasn't good enough to get it done.”
When Morgan State (10-19) won sets 1 and 3, they blocked effectively (10 team blocks) and executed their offense flawlessly. “I felt like we did a good job scouting them,” said Riley-Bozier about those efforts. “We did a good job defending the net, especially against (Gardner). We did everything we wanted to do defensively and she was getting frustrated which was what we wanted.”
“When we win, it's because we're just comfortable and we're not doing too much or too little,” said the Lady Bears Erin Cox, who recorded a double-double with 14 kills and 10 digs to finish her career at Morgan State. “In sets 1 and 3, we were good because we just played as a team and played together.”
When Bethune-Cookman (14-17) won games 2 and 4, outside hitters Janeen Davis (12 kills) and Krysta Gardner (23 kills and 12 digs) played a pivotal role in their success.
Morgan State's serving game wasn't present when they needed it the most. The Lady Bears recorded 14 service errors to only four aces. That caused great concern for Coach Riley-Bozier.
“We're not in a position to where we can make a lot of errors,” said Riley-Bozier. “I just felt like we kind of gave them the game with us making the errors that we made. We didn't pass as well as we needed to pass. To miss a serve and then turn around and not pass well, you know that's just not a good combination. I always talk about just staying aggressive because when you start playing passive, then that's when you start making mistakes instead of just going for it. If you serve it out, you serve it out. But I rather it be served out than just in the net because that means you're just being too passive. I think that hurt us today.”
Cox was happy with the atmosphere outside the court with the Morgan faithful almost filling the PEC, but on the court was a different story.
“I enjoyed the atmosphere, but on the court our atmosphere just isn't consistent and is up and down,” said Cox. “Sometimes we'll come out there ready to kill everybody and next game, we're just too content. The atmosphere in the gym was fine, but we weren't.”
Bethune-Cookman advances to the MEAC semifinals for a third meeting with Florida A&M on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
