BALTIMORE, Md. (Nov. 8, 2018)-The Morgan State returns to Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) volleyball action this Friday, Nov. 9, when it travels to Dover, Del. to take on Delaware State. First serve is at 6 p.m. at Memorial Hall.
 
Morgan State (12-13, 4-4 MEAC) currently sits in third-place in the MEAC Northern Division and a win on Friday would solidify a spot in the upcoming league tournament, which is scheduled for Nov. 16-18 at Burr Gymnasium in Washington, D.C. on the campus of Howard University.
 
Delaware State (2-25, 0-8 MEAC) has already been eliminated from the tournament and will be seeking its first conference win of the season. The Hornets would like nothing else than to avenge a 3-0 loss last month to the Lady Bears in Baltimore (10/12) and play a hand in Morgan's seeding or even chances of making the tournament.
 
The Lady Bears enter the contest on a season-long four-match losing skid. All four of the losses have come at home, where Morgan State began the season winning the first five of their scheduled nine home matches.
 
In their last outing, the Lady Bears were dealt a 3-1 loss to crosstown rival Coppin State on Morgan State's Senior Day. The contest marked the last career home match for Christen Coryatt, Kheanna Landrum and Deja Lester and Monette Daniels.
 
Daniels hit .500 with a team-high 12 kills in the loss to Coppin State. Coryatt recorded 10 kills, while Landrum added four kills, two digs and a match-high two service aces. Zoe McBride fell short of a double-double with 10 kills and nine digs. Kalysia Bates contributed eight kills and Jasmin Hubbard totaled 12 digs. Roi Wallace recorded 39 assists, seven digs and added three kills, while hitting for .333.
 
Coryatt has led the Lady Bears with 3.45 kills per set to go with 2.53 digs per outing. McBride is adding 3.19 kills and 2.54 digs to go with a team-leading 37 service aces. Roi Wallace leads the team with 10.18 assists per set and is adding 2.38 digs per set along with 32 service aces, which is second. Jasmin Hubbard leads the Lady Bears with 3.70 digs per set, while Bates has a team-leading 81 blocks.
 
Delaware State enters the contest in the midst of a 12-match losing skid, following a 3-2 loss on the road at Norfolk State (11/4). Caroline Raloski finished with a match-high 19 kills and Devin Ruble recorded a double-double with 16 kills and 16 digs for the Hornets. Nia Scott had a match-high 18 digs and Milexa Cardona added a double-double with 46 assists and added 11 digs in the loss.
 
The Hornets are led by Mayah Ngundam, who is averaging 2.03 kills and Leimaluhia Taula is averaging 2.92 digs per set. Milexa Cardona leads the team in assists (6.86) and has a team-leading 32 service aces. Kiera Holtzclaw and Ngundam both have 42 blocks on the season to lead the team.

ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST DELAWARE STATE: This will be the 71st meeting between the two programs with Morgan State holding a 46-14 all-time series advantage. Morgan State has won 14 straight matches over the Hornets, including
The last time the Lady Bears lost to Delaware State was on Oct. 7, 2011, a 3-2 defeat in Dover, Del.
 
NEXT UP: The Lady Bears will close out the regular season on the road in Princess Anne, Md. on Sunday, Nov. 11 when they take on Maryland Eastern Shore at 2 p.m.
 
LOSING SKID REACHES A SEASON-HIGH: The Lady Bears' loss to rival Coppin State (11/4) was Morgan State's fourth straight, setting a new season-long losing skid. All four losses would come at home, where the Lady Bears began the season winning its first five contests, before dropping the final four.
 
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 39 assists against Coppin State (11/4), giving her 2,428 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 collected 12 digs against Coppin State (11/4), giving her 890 career digs. Hubbard is now 110 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 said 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.