NotesBALTIMORE, Md. (Sept. 10, 2014)-Morgan State travels to Providence, R.I., this weekend to participate in the 10th annual Friar Classic, hosted by Providence College. The Bears open up against the host Friars (0-8) on Friday, Sept. 12 at 7 p.m., before closing out the tournament on Saturday with non-conference matches against Quinnipiac (1-6) at 12:30 p.m. and Fairleigh Dickinson (1-6) at 2:30 p.m. All matches will be played at Alumni Hall.
The Lady Bears (2-5) are coming off a 1-2 weekend at the East Carolina Invitational (Sept. 5-6). Morgan State dropped a 3-0 decision to UNC Wilmington on the opening day, before sweeping Tennessee Tech on Saturday morning. The Lady Bears then had a hard fought five-set loss to host East Carolina to conclude the tournament.
Junior
Evely Macedo led Morgan State with a total of 31 kills, 21 digs, five service aces and two assists in three matches. Macedo fell shy of a double-double with a season-high 12 kills and nine digs, while adding a season-high three service aces in the finale against East Carolina. Fellow junior,
Arianna Hayden notched 30 kills, 19 digs, three blocks and two assists in three matches. Hayden, who tallied 15 kills and seven digs against East Carolina, was named to the All-East Carolina Invitational team. Junior
Carmen Fernandez recorded 113 assists, 17 digs, two service aces and two solo blocks over the weekend. Fernandez notched a season-best 46 assists against East Carolina.
MSU AGAINST THE FIELD: The Morgan State volleyball team will meet host Providence for the second consecutive season at the Friar Classic and the fourth overall time. The Lady Bears hold a 3-0 series lead over the Friars...Quinnipiac has won the last two meetings against Morgan State, including a 3-1 win last season at the Lafayette/Lehigh Crosstown Tournament to even the all-time series at 2-2…Fairleigh Dickinson and the Lady Bears will meet for the sixth overall time with the Knights holding a 3-2 series lead. The two teams last met during the 2007 UMBC Tri-Match with FDU defeating Morgan State, 3-0.
NEXT UP: The Lady Bears will travel to Loretto, Pa., next week to compete in the Red Flash Classic (Sept. 19-20), hosted by Saint Francis-Pa. This will be the fourth and final regular season tournament for the Lady Bears this season. Morgan State opens up with a single match on Friday against the host Red Flash at 7 p.m., before closing out with Saturday contests against Loyola Maryland at 11 a.m. and George Mason at 5 p.m.
FOLLOW THE LADY BEARS ON TWITTER: Fans of Morgan State volleyball can follow the Lady Bears on Twitter. Check out regular updates on the team which will feature live tweets from games and on road trips. To follow the Morgan State Athletics Twitter page visit Twitter.com/MorganStBears.
UNBEATEN STREAK ON THE LINE: The Lady Bears enter this weekend's tournament with a perfect record against Providence (3-0), which is the only team on this season's schedule the Lady Bears have yet to drop a match. Morgan State squares off against the host Friars during the 10th Annual Friar Classic on Friday, Sept. 12 at 7 p.m. at Alumni Hall. The two teams met last season also in the Friar Classic with Morgan State earning a 3-1 victory.
ANOTHER ALL-TOURNAMENT HONOR FOR HAYDEN: Morgan State's
Arianna Hayden was named to the East Carolina Invitational All-Tournament team on Saturday, Sept. 6. It was the second straight all-tournament team honor this season for Hayden, who the previous week was named to the Charlotte Invitational team (Aug. 30). The 5-foot-9 junior out of Chicago, tallied 30 kills, 19 digs, three blocks, two service aces and two assists in three matches. Hayden recorded 15 kills, seven digs and a service ace in a tough five-set loss in the finale to host East Carolina (Sept. 6).
FERNANDEZ SETS SEASON-HIGH IN ASSISTS: Junior transfer
Carmen Fernandez notched a season-best 46 assists in the Lady Bears' five-set loss to host East Carolina during the finale of the East Carolina Invitational (9/6). Her total surpassed the 45 assists she recorded in a win over Sacramento State (8/30) in the Charlotte Invitational.
TRACKING SMITH: Senior
Zuri Smith entered the season ranked 11th all-time at Morgan State with 177 career blocks. A native of Inglewood, Calif., Smith tallied four blocks, giving her 181 for her career during the opening week at the Charlotte Invitational (Aug. 29-30). Smith is 17 blocks away from passing former Lady Bear, Dorothy Buford (197 blocks from 1997-00) for ninth place.
MORGAN PICKED FOURTH IN MEAC NORTH: Morgan State was picked to finish fourth in the north division of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) preseason poll, as voted by the league's head coaches and sports information directors. Last year, the Lady Bears were picked to finish fifth, but finished the season at 12-13 overall, 7-5 in the MEAC and finished fifth.
2014 CAPTAINS NAMED: Seniors
Zuri Smith and
Tamara Leslie were named team captain and co-captain, respectively, for the 2014 season. Smith, a native of Inglewood, Calif., finished second on the team in both kills (206) and blocks (73) last season, while earning All-MEAC third team honors. A native of Landover, Md., Leslie finished third on the team in digs a year ago with 216.
INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR: The 2014 Morgan State volleyball roster will feature four players (
Samantha Prescott,
Minja Rankov,
Evely Macedo and
Carmen Fernandez) who hail from outside the United States. It is the most international players ever on a Morgan State volleyball roster at one time in Riley-Bozier's 27 years as head coach. Prescott is a junior returnee out of Trinidad & Tobago. Rankov is a sophomore transfer out of Nova Sad, Serbia and Macedo is a junior transfer out of Fortaleza, Brazil. While Puerto Rico is a US territory, Fernandez, a junior transfer and a native of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, is just the second volleyball player from Puerto Rico to play for Riley-Bozier at Morgan State.
