Box Score TUSCON, Ariz. (Aug. 31, 2013)-The Morgan State volleyball team was presented with the task of having to face 20th-ranked Kansas on Day 2 of the Arizona Invitational.
Not only were the Jayhawks nationally ranked, but added to the challenge was the fact that Kansas was coming off a 3-1 loss to Central Arkansas on Friday, suffering its first season opening lost since 2009.
The Lady Bears (0-2), however responded from their performance in Friday's loss to Arizona and played the Jayhawks tough, before falling 0-3 (13-25, 23-25, 18-25) on Saturday afternoon at the McKale Center.
Sara Mcclinton led the way with a match-high 16 kills and a match-high hitting percentage of .448, while Caroline Jarmoc added 11 kills for the Jayhawks. Erin Mcnorton finished with 39 assists and Brianne Riley recorded 15 digs.
Kansas would finish the match with a hitting percentage of .273, while Morgan State was limited to .059. Kansas also held an 8.0-3.0 cushion against Morgan State in blocks. Chelsea Albers and Jamoc contributed to the cause with a total of four blocks each.
The Jayhawks (1-1) came out and set the tone in the opening set by recording 20 kills and holding Morgan State to just six kills.
Despite having a hitting percentage of .000 in the second set, Morgan State was able to take advantage of eight Arizona attack errors to stay close. The Lady Bears took their first lead of the match and extended their cushion to as much as 12-9, but the Jayhawks used an 11-3 run to take a 20-15 lead. Trailing 24-19, Morgan State would not go away. The Lady Bears would score the next four points to pull within 24-23, but a kill by Kansas' Tayler Soucie ended the chance of an upset victory.
The Lady Bears stayed close in the third set and trailed 13-12, before Kansas went on a 5-1 spurt to extend its lead to 18-13. Morgan State responded with a mini 3-0 run to pull within 16-13. But attack errors by the Lady Bears prevented any Morgan State comeback, as the Jayhawks went on to win 25-18.
Morgan State (0-2) was led by
Zuri Smith, who tallied nine kills and three blocks, while
Janelle Wilson added seven kills.
Ngebui Chafeh had 22 assists, while
Samantha Prescott and
Tamara Leslie finished with nine and eight digs, respectively.
The Lady Bears will close out the Arizona Invitational later this afternoon with a 4:30 p.m. match against the Sugar Bears of Central Arkansas.
