NEWARK, Del. (Sept. 19, 2015)-Separated by 2.1 miles from each others' home arenas, Morgan State and crosstown rival Loyola Maryland traveled nearly 60 miles North to the University of Delaware's Bob Carpenter Center to compete in the Delaware Invitational.

Keana Browne would total a team-high 14 kills and Dinah Jones, who was making her first appearance of the season, added 13 kills to lead Morgan State to a 3-1 (19-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-18) non-conference victory over the Greyhounds on Saturday morning in the tournament finale for both teams. The Lady Bears improved to 15-13 all-time against the Greyhounds with the win and finished the weekend with a 1-2 mark, while Loyola Maryland went winless in three matches.

The win also marked the second straight for Morgan State in the series where the two teams have not met on each other's home floor since the 2012 Marriott Greyhound Classic hosted by Loyola. Last season the two teams met in the Red Flash Classic in Loretto, Pa., a sweep by the Lady Bears.

Browne finished with a hitting percentage of .407, while Jones, who missed the first 13 matches of the season, returned to the starting lineup and recorded a team-best .550 hitting percentage and even recorded a service ace on her first attempt.

"I'm happy and blessed to be able to finish all four years being able to play volleyball while still going to school and playing basketball," said Jones, who is also a member of the Lady Bears' basketball team. I'm overjoyed for the opportunity to be able to play. I want to thank everyone, who made it possible. Your efforts are greatly appreciated, big and small."

Morgan State (3-11), which closed out the non-conference slate ending a two-match losing skid with the win, received a double-double from Carmen Fernandez and near double-doubles out of Evely Macedo and Arianna Hayden. Fernandez tallied a match-high 38 assists and had a team-high 14 digs. Macedo finished with nine kills and tied Fernandez with a team-high 14 digs, while Hayden totaled nine kills and 12 digs. Minja Rankov, who was named to the all-tournament team, also finished with 12 digs.

The Greyhounds (5-9) were led by Stacey Kazalas, who had a match-high 17 kills and 12 digs, while Molly Cichosz added 12 kills. Molly Werts finished with 33 assists and Micah Duzey collected a match-high 21 digs. Anna Eckstein contributed 11 digs.

The Lady Bears hit for a .206 percent (49 kills on 136 attempts and 21 errors) for the match, including a set-high .483 percent in the Set 4 with 16 kills on 29 attempts and just two errors. The Greyhounds recorded 44 kills on 141 attempts and had 26 errors for a hitting percentage of .128.

Morgan State tallied seven service aces with Macedo and Fernandez leading the way with three and two aces, respectively. However, the Lady Bears had 12 service errors. Loyola had six aces and nine serving errors. 

The Greyhounds held an 11-10 blocking advantage over Morgan State. Corri Waters led Loyola with a match-high six blocks and Haley Puddy added five. The Lady Bears were led by Jones, who totaled a team-high five blocks, including a solo. Browne finished with four blocks, including a solo, whileHayden and Samantha Prescott each had three blocks.

"I'm happy with my performance, but it can always be better," said Jones. "It felt very surreal to be out there playing after how long it's been and everything that's been occurring. It felt great though to be back and be able to help my teammates get a local rivalry victory. Now it's time to focus on getting a ring."

The Lady Bears will now turn their attention to Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) play for the rest of the season. Morgan State will head to the Tidewater area of Virginia next weekend for two MEAC Northern Division match-ups against Hampton and Norfolk State. The Lady Bears will visit the Hampton Lady Pirates, the defending MEAC champions on Friday, Sept. 25 at 6 p.m. at Holland Hall, before taking on the Norfolk State Spartans on Sunday, Sept. 27 at 3 p.m. at Echols Hall.