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BALTIMORE, Md. (Nov. 17, 2017)-The No. 3 seeded Morgan State volleyball team out of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Northern Division will meet the second-seeded Florida A&M (FAMU) Rattlers out of the MEAC Southern Division in a MEAC Quarterfinal match on Friday in Princess Anne, Md. First serve is at 10 a.m. from the Hytche Athletic Center on the campus of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.
"What an honor to be in a position to return back to the MEAC Championships, especially because every team in the conference is getting tougher and tougher to beat," said Morgan State head coach Ramona Riley-Bozier. "Being matched up with FAMU, it's just like old times."
This will be the 28th meeting between the two teams with FAMU holding a 21-6 all-time series lead. Friday's contest will also be the 20th time the two teams will square off in the MEAC Volleyball Championship Tournament. It is the most meetings for Morgan State against one opponent during the MEAC Championship. FAMU holds a 12-7 lead over the Lady Bears in conference tournament play.
The last time the two programs met was on Nov. 21, 2014 in the MEAC quarterfinal round held at Coppin State's Physical Education Complex. Morgan State held a 2-1 advantage over the Rattlers, but FAMU would bounce back to defeat the Lady Bears in five sets.
"FAMU has a very good and balanced team," said Riley-Bozier. The goal is to jump on them early and keep the tempo fast. If we want to have an opportunity to play on Saturday, we will need to play our best. The athletes can't take this opportunity for granted nor be satisfied with just getting to the tournament. The goal from day one was to win a championship."
Morgan State (8-17, 7-5 MEAC North) enters the contest coming off a 3-1 (21-25, 26-24, 25-21, 25-16) MEAC Northern Division victory over crosstown rival Coppin State on Sunday afternoon at Hill Field House in the season finale. The victory was a season-long third straight for Morgan State, which also completed a remarkable second half turnaround by finishing 5-1 in league play after going just 2-4 during the first half.
Cristen Coryatt led the Lady Bears' offense with a team-high 14 kills, while Natashia Barker recorded her ninth double-double of the season, finishing with 12 kills and 14 digs. Monette Daniels, who hit for a career- and match-best .529 attack percentage, totaled nine kills. Jasmine Hubbard finished the match with a career- and match-high 24 digs and Roi Wallace tallied a match-high 43 assists and added nine digs, falling shy of a double-double.
The match was also Senior Day for fellow seniors Keana Browne and Michaela Collins, who were playing in their last home match for Morgan State at Hill Field House. Browne would finish with five kills and a dig, while Collins also added five kills, hit for a .333, had six digs, a service ace and two blocks.
"I'm really excited for this weekend, especially looking forward to how we will play as a team," said Browne. "After going 2-0 this past weekend, with our wins over Howard and Coppin State, I believe we have good momentum going into this match against FAMU. I believe we will be successful if we use all the talent and coaching we have. We came this far, we're not going to stop now."
Florida A&M (13-11, 9-1 MEAC South) finished the regular season as MEAC Southern Division co-champs along with rival Bethune-Cookman. By way of the tie-breaker, the Rattlers would get the No. 2 seed in the South.Â
The Rattlers, winners of six straight and eight of their last nine contests, are coming off a 3-0 (25-14, 25-21, 25-21) sweep on the road at North Carolina A&T to end the regular season. Nicole Abreu recorded a double-double in the win with a match-high 11 kills and a match-high 23 digs. Valeria Lopez finished with 30 assists.
"Being a senior, I see it is do or die. This is my last chance to get a ring," said Collins. "I think it's pretty ironic that we played FAMU my freshman year and now we are playing them again my senior year. It's as if I am getting a chance at redemption."
