BALTIMORE, Md. (Nov. 20, 2014)-The Morgan State Lady Bears volleyball team, which is the fourth-seed out of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Northern Division will take on the top-seed Florida A&M (FAMU) Lady Rattlers out of the MEAC Southern Division in opening round action of the 2014 MEAC Volleyball championship on Friday, Nov. 21 at 4 p.m. at the Physical Education Complex on the campus of Coppin State. Tickets to the event are $7 for the day and $15 for a weekend pass.
 
Friday's match will mark the 27^th overall meeting between the two teams with FAMU holding a 20-6 advantage. It will also be the 19^th contest between the two in the MEAC championship, as the Lady Rattlers hold an 11-7 all-time series over Morgan State in conference tournament play. The last time the two programs met was during the 2010 quarterfinals, a 3-0 win by FAMU.
 
"In my 27th season of coaching, I still feel honored, blessed and excited about taking my team to the MEAC Tournament," said Morgan State head coach Ramona Riley-Bozier. "We are going into the tournament not playing our best volleyball, especially knowing how we started, so the goal is to have great, competitive practices and spend some time reflecting on goals we set for this season.
 
"There are only two players on the team who have experienced going to MEAC, honestly this may be good for the others, because it removes some of the anxiety and hopefully they will have the mindset that they want everyone to remember Morgan State women's volleyball is back to winning. The team knows this ride will not be an easy one, but a ride that will take everyone to help drive so we will need to stay "physically strong," stay "mentally strong" and remain "Bear Strong" and leave it all on the court."  
 
Morgan State (13-12), which is making its first trip back to the tournament since 2011, has been led by its two All-MEAC selections in Zuri Smith and Arianna Hayden.
 
One of just two Lady Bears on the team who have ever played in the MEAC championship tournament, Smith led Morgan State, as well as the conference in hitting percentage (.356). The second-team All-MEAC selection totaled 206 kills to rank third on the team. She added 50 blocks, which also ranked third, 12 digs and seven assists.
 
A native of Inglewood, Calif., Smith had 10 double digit matches this season in kills, including a season-high 15 kills against the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (10/31). Smith recorded two or more blocks 13 times and tallied a season-high six blocks against Norfolk State (10/3).
 
Smith garnered Red Flash Classic All-Tournament team honors, after totaling 29 kills, three digs and five blocks, giving her at that time 196 career blocks to move into 10^th-place on the Morgan State career charts. She enters the MEAC championship with 227 blocks for her career, which ranks eighth all-time at Morgan State.  
 
A third-team All-MEAC selection, Hayden led the Lady Bears in kills (251), was second on the team in both service aces (28) and blocks (52) and finished third in digs with 185.
The Chicago, Ill., native tallied five double-doubles this season in kills and digs and recorded double digits in kills 15 times, including a season-best 17 kills at Delaware State (10/5).
 
Hayden began the season by earning all-tournament honors in Morgan State's first three non-conference tournaments, including MVP honors at the Friar Classic. Hayden also was named MEAC Co-Player of the Week (9/15), following her 36 kills, 29 digs, 14 blocks and five service aces to lead Morgan State to a 3-0 weekend and the 2014 Friar Classic title. It would be the Lady Bears' first regular season tournament title since winning the same tournament in 2004, which was then called the Providence Invitational.
 
The Lady Bears have also received major contributions this season from Carmen Fernandez, Dinah Jones, Evely Macedo and Samantha Prescott.
 
Fernandez has led the Lady Bears with 855 assists, while adding 121 digs, 56 kills, 25 service aces and 24 blocks, which ranked third on the team. Jones, who is also a member of the women's basketball team, led Morgan State in blocks this season with 60, while recording 197 kills, 31 digs, nine assists, and nine service aces.
 
Macedo, finished the regular season second on the team in both kills with 215 and digs with 191. She also added 23 blocks, 20 assists and 18 service aces. Prescott, who filled in for two matches as the team's setter when Fernandez was out with an injury, led Morgan State with 207 digs and totaled 185 kills, 87 assists,
 
FAMU (11-14) closed out the regular season with a 3-0 loss at rival Bethune-Cookman, thus ending a four-match winning streak.
 
The Lady Rattlers have been paced by Pamela Soriana, who earned MEAC Rookie of the Year honors and was named to the MEAC first team. Soriana led the team in kills (356), service aces (20) and was second in digs with 202. She also tallied 21 assists and had 29 blocks.
 
Ginna Lopez-Chavez led FAMU with 73 blocks, while recording 151 kills, 29 digs, 11 assists and nine service aces to earn first-team honors, while Joanie Del Castillo tallied a team-high 347 digs, 31 assists, 28 service aces to also be named to the first team. Valeria Lopez has led the Lady Rattlers with 803 assists.