NORFOLK, Va. (Sept. 27, 2015)-Led by Arianna Hayden's team-high 15 kills and 13 digs, a total of three Lady Bears recorded double-doubles to lead visiting Morgan State past Norfolk State in a five-set Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Northern Division thriller, 3-2 (11-25, 25-22, 29-31, 25-21, 15-11) on Sunday afternoon at Echols Hall.
 
With the win, Morgan State (5-11, 2-0 MEAC) earned its first 2-0 MEAC start since 2006, when that team won its first five league matches and reached the championship match.
 
Last season the Lady Bears went into Echols Hall facing a Norfolk State squad that had a 20-match losing skid and were beating by the Spartans in four sets.
 
This season Norfolk State (1-14, 0-2 MEAC) entered the contest against the Lady Bears with a six-match losing skid and winners of just two of its last 18 matches dating back to the final four contests last season. Despite the Spartans' struggles, they pushed Morgan State to the limit and even held a 2-1 lead, but were unable to hold on for the win.
 
Evely Macedo tallied 12 kills and 15 digs, while Samantha Prescott totaled 12 kills and 11 digs for the Lady Bears, who extended their season-long winning streak to three matches. Keana Browne finished with 10 kills and Minja Rankov set a career-high 19 digs. Carmen Fernandez had 49 assists to go with seven digs.
 
Norfolk State was led by Hope Forsythe, who had a match-high 18 kills and a match-high 23 digs to lead three Spartan players with double-doubles. Janya Frazier totaled 14 kills and 13 digs, while Angie Darcus finished with 13 kills and 13 digs. Darcy Moore collected a match-high 57 assists and had nine digs.
 
The Spartans held a 7.5-6.9 blocking advantage. Forsythe and Clarke Tyler each had a match-high four blocks. Dominique Parker added three. Morgan State was led by Browne and Dinah Jones, who had three blocks, respectively.
 
The Lady Bears' next contest will be their MEAC home opener this Friday, Oct. 2 against rival Howard. Morgan State, Howard and Coppin State are all tied for first in the league standings with identical 2-0 record.
 
The Lady Bison (5-12, 2-0 MEAC), who reached last year's title match, also enter the contest with a 2-0 conference record. Howard began conference play with a 3-0 road sweep of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore on the road last Friday, before handing visiting Delaware State a 3-1 loss in Washington, D.C. on Sunday. In the win over Delaware State, the Lady Bison earned a dominating 25-5 Set 2 victory over the Hornets.