KENT, Ohio (Aug. 31, 2016)-The Morgan State volleyball team lost to Purdue Fort Wayne, 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-19) in the opener of the Golden Flashes Classic on Friday at the M.A.C. Center. It was the first ever meeting between the two programs.
 
Nicole Rightnowar led the Mastodons (2-3) with a match-high 14 kills, while hitting for .367. Elizabeth Fuerst added eight kills and had a match-high .467 hitting percentage. Elizabeth Britner had a team-leading nine digs and Rightnowar finished with eight. Madison Jaqua totaled a match-best 31 assists.
 
Morgan State (1-4) was led by Cristen Coryatt's 10 kills. Zoe McBride recorded five kills, while Deja Lester hit for a team-leading .375 and had four kills and five digs. Jasmin Hubbard led the Lady Bears with a match-high 11 digs, while Roi Wallace totaled 25 assists.
 
As a team the Mastodons had a .349 hitting percentage for the match, recorded 39 kills and collected 41 digs. Purdue Fort Wayne would also hold an 8.0-2.0 blocking advantage over the Lady Bears. Sandra Hoevels finished with four blocks, while Sydney Boerst added three, including two solo blocks.
 
The Lady Bears would record a hitting percentage of .081 for the match and finished with 30 kills, nine shy of Purdue Fort Wayne.
 
The Lady Bears trailed 8-5 in Set 1, before the Mastodons used a 12-4 run to take a 20-9 lead. Purdue Fort Wayne would go on to win the opening set, 25-14.
Set 2 was back and forth and the Lady Bears held a 12-11 lead, before Purdue Fort Wayne scored four straight in the midst of a 6-1 spurt to take a 17-13 lead. The Lady Bears could not get any closer than four points and the 'Dons would capture the set, 25-17.

Trailing 2-0, Morgan State played its best volleyball of the match in Set 3, but was unable to pull away. The Lady Bears would hit for a set-best .286 with 14 kills. Coryatt would record four kills, while McBride and Mykaela Ross each added three kills. Lester recorded two of her four kills in the third set.
 
Morgan State trailed by a point at 8-7 when the 'Dons used a 12-4 run to take a 20-11 advantage. The Lady Bears would get within five points at 24-19, before a kill by Madelyn Wurster ended the contest.
 
Morgan State will now face Niagara later in the day at 5 p.m.