BALTIMORE, Md. (August 17, 2018)-The Morgan State volleyball program will hold its annual 'Orange & Blue' scrimmage this Saturday, August 18. First serve is slated for 2 p.m. at Hill Field House. Admission is free.

The Orange & Blue contest, which marks the end of training camp for the Lady Bears, pits the current Morgan State team against the MSU Alumni squad in an actual best-of-five sets match.

"It's always nice when alumni return to the gym and especially when it's time to play the current team," said Morgan State head coach Ramona Riley-Bozier, who is entering her 31st season at the helm of her alma mater. "Do they (alumni) take this match serious, umm, YES! "Because the alumni are athletes, they still see themselves as someone who's still got it.

"Although they know they are not as quick moving left and right, jump as high as they use to, they don't want the current team to know that. I would expect they will look to not try and overpower them, but play more of a finesse game instead."

This year's Alumni Team lineup will feature former Lady Bears Natalie Chafeh, Samantha Prescott, Dominique Bozier and Evely Macedo along with recent graduates and 2017 members, Michaela Collins and Keana Browne.

"They will be small in numbers, but will play big," added Riley-Bozier. 

The Orange & Blue match has always been highly competitive, as bragging rights are up for grabs each summer between the current Lady Bears' squad and the Alumni Team.

Last year the 2017 Lady Bears pulled away from the Alumni Team and earned a 3-1 victory. However, the previous two seasons were not that easy, as both contests would go the distance.

In 2015, the Lady Bears fell behind 2-1 after three sets and needed to stave off three match-point opportunities by the Alumni Team, to eventually win the fourth set and even the contest at 2-2. The Lady Bears would then hold on for a 15-13 victory in the fifth set for the win, following an attack error on the Alumni Team.

In 2016 it was the Alumni Team getting revenge, this time defeating the Lady Bears, 3-2 in another five-set match thriller. The Alumni Team would close out the match with a 15-7 victory in the fifth set to secure the win.

"I love my alumni, but this year they need to and will go down," said Riley-Bozier. "I look for Cristen Coryatt to be a force to be reckoned with. She is having a good preseason thus far. Roi [Wallace] has shown overall improvement as a setter. I think silently Natalie (alumni) will challenge Roi offensively. It will be fun watching Roi counterpunch every offensive dump Natalie will deliver.

"With the newcomers, we have a few on the injury list, but are slowly getting them back. If Kalysia Bates gets cleared, I think she will be inviting everyone to her 'Block Party'. Zoe McBride is still learning the tempo, but has been steady since preseason started. Zoe and Deja Lester were picked by their teammates to be co-players of the week. Both athletes have a positive attitude and have really worked hard."

Morgan State opens up the regular season on Friday, Aug. 24 in Newark, Del. with a 3 p.m. match-up against La Salle in the opener of the Delaware Classic hosted by the University of Delaware. Morgan State then closes out the opening day with a 7 p.m. contest against the host Blue Hens. 

The Lady Bears will conclude the opening weekend on Saturday, Aug. 25 with a match-up against Villanova at 7 p.m. All three matches will be played at the Bob Carpenter Center on the campus of the University of Delaware.