Video | Game Day

BALTIMORE, Md. (Nov. 3, 2018)-The Morgan State Lady Bears' volleyball team will look to end a three-match home court losing streak and close out their 2018 home schedule on a positive note when they host crosstown rival Coppin State on Sunday, Nov. 4. First serve for this Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Northern Division match-up will be 3 p.m. at Hill Field House.
 
The contest will also mark Senior Day for four Lady Bears (in transfers Cristen Coryatt, Kheanna Landrum and Deja Lester and four-year member Monette Daniels), who will be playing in their final home contest in the Morgan State 'Orange and Blue.'
 
"It's always one of those emotional moments for them because it's their last opportunity to play at home and it's also a sign that the season is coming to an end. I'm definitely going to miss this group," said Morgan State head coach Ramona Riley-Bozier.
 
Three of Morgan State's four seniors are transfers, who came to Morgan State a year ago as juniors.
 
"Unfortunately for Deja [Lester] last year she didn't get to get an opportunity to really get on the court because she was suffering an injury," said Riley-Bozier. "She came back this past spring and summer and worked really hard. She hasn't really had an opportunity to play a whole lot, but she's been competitive in practice and pushing those in front of her and you always need that.
 
"We lost Kheanna [Landrum] last year early because of a finger injury just when we were starting to have some good things going on, Kheanna stepped in there and did a good job for us. She's probably one of the tiniest people on the team and short, but she can get up and touch 10-feet and put up some good blocks, so we're definitely going to miss that in Kheanna.
 
"Cristen [Coryatt], we'd love to have her back for two more years," said Riley-Bozier. "Cris has not even reached her potential. It's unfortunate that she's not the same hitter she was at the beginning of the season after working so hard to be in great shape and started out really strong. She was definitely playing like she was Player of the Year for the MEAC. I will definitely miss Cris. We've already kind of talked about her finishing up and getting her undergraduate degree and she'll stay on as a student assistant. So I'm kind of excited about having her around.
 
"Monette Daniels is the one person who's been here since Day 1. I just remember talking to her, her dad and mom before she came to Morgan and Monette started off where she didn't get a lot of playing time. She kept a great attitude the entire time. Sophomore year she started getting a little more playing time and then the last two years she's been one of our starters. She goes hard in practice every day and she's been a leader for us the last few years. Monette's pretty well respected by her teammates, so she's one I'll really miss a lot. She will definitely be some shoes that are going to be hard to fill because she's that great student-athlete ambassador on and off the court."
 
After beginning the season winning its first five home contests, Morgan State has since dropped three straight in the friendly confines of Hill Field House, including a 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 28-26) loss to Norfolk State (10/28) in its last outing.
 
Zoe McBride recorded a double-double with 11 kills and 12 digs. Mykaela Ross led the team with a match-high 13 digs. Triniti Smith finished with 10 assists and Brook Adams added nine.
 
The Lady Bears (12-12, 4-3 MEAC) have been paced by Coryatt with 3.49 kills per contest and 2.64 digs per set. McBride is adding 3.22 kills and 2.55 digs to go with a team-leading 36 service aces. Roi Wallace leads the team with 10.21 assists per set and is adding 2.41 digs per set along with 32 service aces, which is second. Jasmin Hubbard leads the Lady Bears with 3.73 digs per set, while Bates has a team-leading 77 blocks.
 
Coppin State (9-19, 3-4 MEAC) enters Sunday's contest coming off a 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-22) road victory at Fairleigh Dickinson (10/31). Miajavon Coleman led the Eagles with 10 kills and 11 digs. Brianna Lang posted a match-high 32 assists. Jordan Celestine recorded a match-high six blocks to help Coppin State hold a 10.0-8.0 blocking advantage over the Knights.
 
Coleman has led the Eagles with 3.53 kills, while Asia Stennis is adding 2.73 kills per set. Chelsie Kolibar is averaging 2.84 digs per outing. Lang leads Coppin State in assists (8.75) and service aces (20). Christa Johnson has a team-best 77 blocks.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST COPPIN STATE: This will be the 75th meeting between the two programs with Morgan State holding a 63-11 all-time series advantage. The Lady Bears defeated Coppin State, 3-0 a month ago at Coppin (10/4).
 
NEXT UP: The Lady Bears will play their final two regular season contests on the road beginning with a trip to Dover, Del. on Friday, Nov. 9 to take on Delaware State. Morgan State will then close out the regular season in Princess Anne, Md. on Sunday, Nov. 11 when it takes on Maryland Eastern Shore.
 
MCBRIDE EARNS 5TH MEAC ROOKIE OF THE WEEK HONOR: Freshman Zoe McBride was named MEAC Rookie of the Week on Oct. 29. It was her second consecutive week and fifth MEAC weekly honor of the season. A native of Ridgefield, Wash., McBride recorded a double-double in two matches. She began with 15 kills, 15 digs and added four service aces and three blocks against Howard (10/26). McBride then hit .286 against Norfolk State, finishing with 11 kills and 12 digs. It was the eighth doubled-double this season for McBride.
 
BOZIER REACHES 450 VICTORIES: Morgan State head coach Ramona Riley-Bozier entered the 2018 season needing nine more wins to reach career victory No. 450. On Sunday, Sept. 30, she picked up career milestone victory No. 450, following a 3-1 win at Norfolk State. Riley-Bozier, who is the all-time winningest coach at Morgan State in any sport with 453 career victories as the volleyball coach, is also the softball program's all-time career leader with 161 victories in the nine seasons she served as head coach.
 
TRACKING WALLACE: Roi Wallace tallied 28 assists against American (10/17), giving her 2,389 career assists thus far, which ranks third on the Morgan State charts. She set a career-high 60 assists earlier this season in a win over Saint Peter's (8/29).
 
HUBBARD CLOSING IN ON 1,000 DIGS: Junior libero Jasmin Hubbard has collected 878 career digs. Hubbard is now 122 digs away from reaching the 1,000-digs plateau.
 
BATES NAMED MEAC CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sophomore Kaylisa Bates was named MEAC Co-Player of the Week on Oct. 15. A native of Phenix City, Ala., Bates hit .500 in two matches over the weekend to lead Morgan State to a 2-0 week. Bates totaled 28 kills and six blocks and added an ace and a dig. The 6-foot-1 middle hitter finished with 17 kills and hit .640 as Morgan State defeated Delaware State (10/12) in straight sets. She added 11 kills and six blocks (three solo) to help Morgan State end a four-match losing skid to Maryland Eastern Shore (10/14).
 
MORGAN SURPASSES 2017 WIN TOTAL: The Lady Bears had a total of eight wins all of last season. This season, Morgan State has a total of 12 victories, including eight non-conference wins. With its 3-1 victory at Norfolk State (9/30), Morgan State picked up its ninth victory of 2018, to surpass last season's total. The 12 wins are the most since 2015 (13 wins).
 
AMONG THE MEAC'S BEST: As a team Morgan State ranks first in hitting percentage (.212) and is second in both assists per set (11.18) and kills (12.14) behind northern division leader Howard…Kalysia Bates ranks second in the MEAC in hitting percentage (.276) and Monette Daniels (.236). is seventh…Roi Wallace is second in the MEAC with 10.21 assists per set and is fifth in service aces with 0.41, while Zoe McBride ranks fourth in service aces at 0.41…Coryatt ranks fifth in kills with 3.53 per set, while McBride (3.22) is seventh…Bates also ranks fifth in blocks with 0.92 per set…Jasmin Hubbard ranks fifth in digs with 3.73 per set.
 
DANIELS NAMED MEAC CO-DEFENSIVE SPECIALIST OF THE WEEK: Monette Daniels was named MEAC Co-Defensive Specialist of the Week on Monday, Oct. 1, as announced by the conference office. A native of Detroit, Mich., Daniels totaled nine blocks, three digs and 12 kills, while hitting .300 to lead Morgan State to a 1-1 weekend. Daniels would finish out the weekend strong, as she tied her career high for blocks in a single match with eight, while adding two service aces, three digs and eight kills for a .316 hitting percentage in the win at Norfolk State (9/30).
 
CORYATT, BATES NAMED TO CHARM CITY CLASSIC TEAM: Senior Cristen Coryatt and sophomore Kalysia Bates were named to the Charm City Classic All-Tournament team (9/23). A native of Sugar Land, Texas, Coryatt would hit for .279, while totaling 23 kills, 14 digs and four aces in five sets played. The 5-9 outside hitter finished with a match-high 21 kills, a .321 hitting percentage, nine digs and two aces in a four-set win over North Carolina A&T (9/21). Bates finished with nine total blocks, including three solo, 16 kills, seven digs and three aces. A native of Phenix, Ala., Bates recorded five blocks, one solo and added four digs, eight kills and an ace in a four-set victory over North Carolina A&T. She added five blocks, including two solo to go with three digs, two aces, eight kills and hit for .353 in the finale over the Lady Bulldogs.
 
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 8-18 overall, 7-5 in the MEAC good for a third-place finish.
 
BOZIER ENTERS 31ST SEASON: Morgan State head coach Ramona Riley-Bozier is in the midst of her 31st season at the helm of the Lady Bear program. The all-time winningest coach at Morgan State (453), 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 nine seasons 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.
 
UNBEATEN STREAKS STILL INTACT: Morgan State entered the season unbeaten against four of its opponents and remained that way, following victories over Niagara (13-0), Prairie View A&M (2-0), Jackson State (2-0) and South Carolina State (22-0). The Lady Bears first faced Niagara on Aug. 31 in the Golden Flashes Classic and swept the Purple Eagles. Morgan State then met both Prairie View A&M and Jackson State in the New Orleans Tournament on Sept. 7 and swept the Panthers, before needing five sets to defeat the Jackson State Tigers. Last week Morgan State played host to South Carolina State on Sept. 22 in the finale of the Charm City Classic and swept the Lady Bulldogs.
 
CAPTAINS ANNOUNCED: Seniors Monette Daniels and Cristen Coryatt were named as the 2018 captains, while juniors Roi Wallace and Jasmin Hubbard were named as co-captains.
 
FOUR NAMED TO MEAC ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM: Morgan State had four players named to the 2017 MEAC Volleyball All-Academic Team, based on their academic success during the 2016-17 school year. Two of the four recognized (Jasmin Hubbard and Roi Wallace) return for the 2018 season. Kheanna Landrum and Wallace were also named to the MEAC Commissioner's All-Academic Team for maintaining a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better during the 2017-18 academic year.
 
WELCOME TO THE CAVE: The Lady Bears welcome the addition of seven newcomers to the 2018 squad, six of which are freshman and one sophomore transfer. Those newcomers are freshmen Sara Brown (Bowie, Md.), Nia Smith (Odenton, Md.), Zoe McBride (Ridgefield, Wash.), Morgan Eugene (Brandywine, Md.), Jasmin Perry (Bowie, Md.) and Brook Adams (Phoenix, Ariz.) along with sophomore transfer Kalysia Bates (Phenix, Ala.).
 
SAYING GOODBYE: Morgan State will say goodbye to four seniors, Monette Daniels, Kheanna Landrum, Deja Lester and Cristen Coryatt prior to its regular season finale 'Senior Day' match against crosstown rival Coppin State on Nov. 4 at Hill Field House.
 
2018 MEAC CHAMPIONSHIP: This year's 2018 MEAC volleyball championship will take place November 16-18 in Washington, D.C. at Burr Gymnasium on the campus of the Howard University.