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BALTIMORE, Md. (Sept. 5, 2017)-The Lady Bears travel to the Nation's Capital this evening to take on the Eagles of American University. First serve is 7 p.m. at Bender Arena.
 
Morgan State (1-5) ended a five-match losing skid to start the season with a 3-1 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff (9/2) in the finale of the Redhawks Invitational, hosted by Southeast Missouri State. It was the first meeting between the two teams and the Lady Bears improved to 7-0 all-time against members of the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
 
Cristen Coryatt leads the Lady Bears with 3.71 kills per set, while Jasmin Hubbard is averaging a team-leading 3.77 digs per outing. Monette Daniels leads the team in blocks with 14 and service aces with nine. Roi Wallace is averaging 9.18 assists per set to lead Morgan State.
 
American (4-3) enters the contest on a three-match winning streak after going 3-0 last weekend at the Harvard Invitational. Aleksandra Kazala was named MVP of the Harvard Invitational and was joined on the all-tournament team by Kristen Largay and Erin Swartz. Kazala was also selected as the Patriot League Player of the Week.
 
The Eagles are led by Kazala, who is averaging 4.60 kills per set and is second on the team in digs at 3.03 per outing. Kennedy Etheridge leads American with 9.29 assists per set and Kristen Largay is averaging 4.40 digs per contest.
 
Tickets for the match are $8 for general admission and $5 for children and can be purchased at the Bender Arena Box Office.
 
SERIES AGAINST AMERICAN: American leads the all-time series, 27-0. The Eagles swept last season's meeting in Baltimore on Sept. 14 to spoil Morgan State's home opener. Aleksandra Kazala led American with a match-high 16 kills and eight digs, while Kennedy Etheridgs had a match-high 37 assists. The Lady Bears were led by Natashia Barker, who tallied a team-high 12 kills and Keana Browne finished with nine. Victoria Turnbough and Roi Wallace each had a match-high nine digs, while Wallace added 26 assists and a career-high three kills.  

LAST WHISTLE: Morgan State went 1-2 over the weekend, while competing in the Redhawks Invitational, hosted by Southeast Missouri State (SEMO). After dropping a 3-0 decision to host SEMO, the Lady Bears dropped a heartbreaking five-set thriller to Evansville after taking a 2-0 lead. Morgan State claimed its first win of the season when it defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 3-1 in the finale.
 
NEXT UP: The Lady Bears will take part in this weekend's Fairfield Inn & Suites Charm City Classic hosted by Loyola-Maryland (Sept. 8-9). Morgan State will open up on Friday against UMBC at 12:30 p.m., before closed out the evening against the host Greyhounds at 7 p.m. The Lady Bears will conclude competition on Saturday with a noon match-up against Presbyterian.
 
WALLACE NAMED MEAC SETTER OF THE WEEK: Sophomore Roi Wallace was named MEAC Setter of the Week on Monday by the league office, after racking up 127 assists in three matches. A native of San Dimas, Calif., Wallace notched 10.58 assists per set to help the Lady Bears to a 1-2 week. She totaled a career-high 50 assists against Evansville and a day later added 48 assists, while adding three ace, four digs and a career-high four kills in a win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
 
BROWNE EARNS REDHAWKS ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS: Senior Keana Browne was named to the Redhawks Invitational All-Tournament team on Saturday, Sept. 2. Browne finished with weekend with 33 kills, five digs and four blocks, including two solos in three matches played. The Virginia Beach, Va., native tallied nine kills and hit for a .353 in the opener against Southeast Missouri State. She then recorded 13 kills, added three digs and had four blocks, including two solo blocks against Evansville.
 
CORYATT EXPLODES FOR SEASON-HIGHS: Junior transfer Cristen Coryatt closed out the Redhawks Invitational on a high note in her final two matches. The Sugar Land, Texas native recorded her first double-double of the season with a team-best 17 kills, while adding 13 digs and a season-high two blocks against Evansville (9/1). Coryatt then exploded for a match- and season-high 25 kills and season-high hitting percentage of .477 in the finale against Arkansas-Pine Bluff (9/2).
 
WALLACE SETS CAREER ASSISTS MARK: Roi Wallace set a new career high in assists with 50 against Evansville (9/1) during the Redhawks Invitational. The 50 assists surpassed her previous career-high of 49 a year ago at Norfolk State (10/23/16).
 
PARTY LIKE IT'S 1999: When the Lady Bears defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the finale of the Redhawks Invitational (9/2), it was not only the first meeting between the two Division I Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) programs, but it also marked a rare meeting for Morgan against a Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) foe. The last time MSU, a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference faced a SWAC opponent was Sept. 17, 1999, a 3-0 victory over Prairie View A&M. The Lady Bears improved to a perfect 7-0 all-time against SWAC opponents, following their victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff with all seven wins coming under the direction of Coach Bozier.

HUBBARD NAMED TO All-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Sophomore Libero Jasmin Hubbard was named to the Spartan-Demon Deacon Classic All-Tournament team (Aug. 26). The Sparks, Nevada native finished with a team-leading 40 digs, reaching double figures in digs in every contest, while adding five assists in three matches played. Hubbard totaled 11 digs in the season opener against Wake Forest, then recorded a team-high 14 digs and two assists against host North Carolina Greensboro. She closed out the tournament with a team-best 15 digs and set a career-high three assists in the finale against UMass Lowell.
 
OPENING SERVE: Morgan State is 8-17 in season openers since the 1993 season, after it dropped a 3-0 decision to Wake Forest (8/26) in last week's season opener in the Spartan-Demon Deacon Classic. The Lady Bears, who have lost six consecutive season openers, last won on opening day in 2011 when they defeated Saint Peter's 3-0 at the La Salle Invita- tional (8/26/11).
 
MORGAN PICKED THIRD IN MEAC NORTH: Morgan State was picked to finish third in the northern 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 third and went 7-21 overall, 7-5 in the MEAC good for a third-place finish.
 
BOZIER ENTERS 30TH SEASON: Morgan State head coach Ramona Riley-Bozier enters her 30th season at the helm of the Lady Bear program. The all-time winningest coach at Morgan State (434), Riley-Bozier guided the Lady Bears to 88 consecutive MEAC Northern Division wins between 1994-2003. She has led MSU to five MEAC Championships, three NCAA Tournament appearances and earned MEAC Coach of the Year honors five times. Bozier also coached the softball team at MSU for seven sea- sons and in 1999 led the team to its only MEAC title game appearance. A native of Kansas City, Mo., Bozier, is a graduate of Morgan State, where she was a two-sport start in volleyball and track. She is one of 11 players in the history of the program to have registered 1,000 career kills. On the track, Bozier was a three-time All-American and one of the top triple jumpers at Morgan. She still holds the UMBC meet record in the 60 meter dash (1983) and ran the first leg of the 4X100 relay, which in 1986 set the school record in a time of 44.47 seconds, which also still stands. That squad would also win the Penn Relays and finished second that year at the Division I National Championships. Bozier was inducted into the Morgan State Hall of Fame in 2003.
 
SOMEONE NEW: Morgan State will square off against eight first-time opponents this season. When the Lady Bears head to Greensboro, N.C. for the Spartan-Demon Deacon Classic (Aug. 25-26), they will face Wake Forest for the first time ever in the season opener and then the University of Massachusetts Lowell in the finale. A week later Morgan State will travel to Cape Girardeau, Mo. for the Redhawks Invitational (Sept. 1-2), where they will face host Southeast Missouri State, Evansville and the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff, all for the first time. The Lady Bears and Presbyterian will meet for the first time in the finale of the Fairfield Inn & Suites Charm City Challenge (Sept. 9) on the campus of Loyola-Maryland. Morgan State will then take on Western Michigan and host University of North Carolina Wilmington for the first time, when they meet in Wilmington, N.C. in the Courtyard by Marriott Tournament (Sept. 15-16).
 
1992 TEAM TO BE HONORED: 25 years ago Morgan State captured its first MEAC Volleyball championship with a 3-1 victory over Florida A&M in the 1992 title match. That team will be celebrated and honored during homecoming weekend and prior to the Lady Bears' match against Delaware State (10/15) at Hill Field House.
 
FOUR NAMED TO MEAC ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM: Morgan State had four players named to the 2016 MEAC Volleyball All-Academic Team, based on their academic success during the 2015-16 school year. Two of the four recognized (Keana Browne and Michaela Collins) return for the 2017 season. Collins was also named to the MEAC Commissioner's All-Academic Team for maintaining a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better during the 2016-17 academic year.
 
TOURNAMENT EXPOSURE: Morgan State will face two opponents this season (American and Howard) that reached the NCAA Volleyball Tournament in 2016. The Lady Bears will visit American on Sept. 5 in Washington, D.C. and will face defending MEAC champion Howard on Oct. 4 in Baltimore and again on Nov. 10 in Washington, D.C.
 
WELCOME TO THE CAVE: Morgan State will welcome the addition of six newcomers to the 2017 squad, three of which are freshman and three junior transfers. Those newcomers are freshmen Shadae Debraux (Fort Washington, Md.), Trinity Smith (Detroit, Mich.) and Mykaela Ross (Farmington Hill, Mich.) along with junior transfers Cristen Coryatt (Sugar Land, Texas), Kheanna Landrum (Goodyear, Ariz.) and Deja Lester (Flint, Mich.).
 
SAYING GOODBYE: Morgan State will say goodbye to its two seniors, Keana Browne and Michaela Collins prior to its regular season finale 'Senior Day' match against crosstown rival Coppin State on Nov. 12 at Hill Field House.