PRINCESS ANNE, Md. (Nov. 18, 2016)-Bethune-Cookman's Phylecia Armstrong finished with a match-high 11 kills and Alana Handy tallied a match-high 15 digs to lead the Wildcats to a 3-0 (25-17, 25-13, 25-12) sweep of Morgan State in a quarterfinal match of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Volleyball Championship on Friday morning at the Hytche Athletic Center.

Bethune-Cookman (10-20), who was the second-seed out of the southern division, advances to Saturday's semifinal round, where it will face the winner between defending tournament champion and top seed in the north, Howard and North Carolina Central, who earned the southern division's fourth seed.

Friday's victory was the third straight over Morgan State and Bethune-Cookman's fifth in the last seven meetings with the Lady Bears. The Wildcats have now won four straight MEAC tournament meetings against the Lady Bears to even up the tournament series at 4-4. Morgan State still leads the all-time series, 14-7.

The Wildcats' Phalen Clark fell shy of a double-double, finishing with a match-high 32 assists and nine digs, while also adding three kills. Rakaya Neely tallied a match-high .571 hitting percentage, recording nine kills on 14 attempts, as Bethune-Cookman had a team hitting percentage of .364 with 41 kills for the match.

The Lady Bears (7-21) were held to a .079 hitting percentage and finished with 26 kills. Morgan State totaled three service aces, but committed eight service attacks.

Bethune-Cookman began the match recording 15 kills on 27 attempts with just one error for a .519 hitting percentage in Set 1.  

Bethune opened up the second set scoring the first nine points and held an 11-2 advantage, before the Lady bears responded with four straight points to pull within 11-6. The Wildcats would score the next four points in part of a 7-1 spurt to increase their lead to 18-7. Morgan State tried to get back in the contest with four straight points to pull within 18-11, but that would be as close as the Lady Bears would get. B-CU would close out the match with a 7-2 run for the win. Morgan State would record just five kills in the second set and was limited to a -.079 team hitting percentage.

The Wildcats jumped out to a quick 10-point lead (15-5) in the third and final set and never looked back. B-CU went up 24-10 and Morgan State was able to hold the Wildcats off for two points, before a kill by Neely closed the door on the Lady Bear's season.

Morgan State was led by its lone senior, Haley McClure, who finished with 10 kills and a match-high two service aces in her final game as a Lady Bear. Jasmin Hubbard had a team-best 12 digs and Roi Wallace totaled 18 assists.