Morgan State Volleyball at New Orleans Tournament
Sept. 7-8, 2018 | Games 8-11
New Orleans, La. (Human Performance Center)

MSU Notes | Live Stats | Video | Tournament Central

BALTIMORE, Md. (Sept. 5, 2018)-The Morgan State volleyball team will head back on the road this weekend when they travel to the Big Easy to take part in the University of New Orleans Tournament (Sept. 7-8). The Lady Bears will begin the tournament with two rare contests against Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) foes, Prairie View A&M and Jackson State on Friday. On Saturday the Lady Bears will have match-ups against Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Southern Division member Bethune-Cookman, followed by host New Orleans to close out the tournament. All four matches will be played at the Human Performance Center.
 
MSU AGAINST THE FIELD: Morgan State is 1-0 all-time against both of its fellow HBCU counterparts out the SWAC in Prairie View A&M and Jackson State. The Lady Bears and Bethune-Cookman will be meeting for the 22nd time, with Morgan State holding a 14-7 series lead. The New Orleans Privateers are 2-0 all-time against Morgan State. 
 
LAST WHISTLE: Morgan State fell to host Kent State, 3-1 (24-26, 18-25, 25-15, 21-25) in the finale of the Golden Flashes Classic. The Lady Bears held a 22-19 advantage in the first set, but the Golden Flashes responded with four straight points to take the lead at 23-22. Morgan State reclaimed the lead at 24-23, but would give up three straight points and drop the first set 26-24. The heartbreaking loss would set the tone for the match. Zoe McBride would record a double-double finishing with a match-high 19 kills and 14 digs to lead the Lady Bears. Cristen Coryatt finished with 14 kills ad Roi Wallace also had a double-double with 44 assists and 15 digs. Jasmin Hubbard had a match-high 23 digs. The Lady Bears would finish the contest with 56 kills, 52 assists and 73 digs, while Kent State totaled 48 kills, 48 assists and 61 digs. The Golden Flashes did out block the Lady Bears, 10.0-6.0.
  
NEXT UP: The Lady Bears will travel to Williamsburg, Va. for the 2nd Colonial Classic hosted by the College of William & Mary (Sept. 14-15). It will be the finished with 14 kills and Roi Wallace also had a double-double with 44 ass final regular season tournament for Morgan State. The Lady Bears will take on East Carolina in the opener on Friday. On Saturday, Morgan State will take on host William & Mary, before closing out the tournament against Lehigh.
 
MORGAN VS. THE SWAC: Morgan State is a perfect 7-0 all-time against members of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), including 1-0 against both Prairie View A&M and Jackson State. All seven wins have come under the direction of MSU head coach Ramona Riley-Bozier. When MSU squares off against Prairie View A&M and Jackson State on Day 1 of the New Orleans Tournament (9/7), it will mark a rare meeting against other Division I Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) programs and the SWAC. Prior to last year's 3-1 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the finale of the Redhawks Invitational (9/2) in Cape Girardeau, Mo., Morgan State had not faced a SWAC foe since Sept. 17, 1999, a 3-0 victory over PVAM. The Last time Morgan State faced Jackson State was Sept. 4, 1998 in the Kangaroo Classic in Kansas City, Mo. Morgan would win, 3-0.
 
TRACKING WALLACE: Roi Wallace has recorded 1,843 career assists thus far, which ranks fourth on the Morgan State charts. She is now 128 assists away from moving into third-place and surpassing former Lady Bear, Jentri Fullove (1,970 assists from 2006-07).
 
HUBBARD NAMED TO ALL-GOLDEN FLASHES TEAM: MSU junior libero Jasmin Hubbard was named to the Golden Flashes Classic All-Tournament team (9/1). Hubbard, who was named the top defensive player, totaled a team-leading 45 digs and added 10 assists in three matches. The Sparks, Nevada native had 11 digs each against Purdue Fort Wayne and Niagara, and concluded the weekend with a season-best 23 digs and added five assists against host Kent State. 
 
CORYATT NAMED MEAC CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Cristen Coryatt was named MEAC Co-Player of the Week by the league office on Monday, Sept. 3. The senior captain recorded double-digit kills in all four of Morgan State's matches over the week, including 19 in the Lady Bears' home opener against Saint Peter's. The Sugar Land, Texas native would also add seven digs and two service aces and hit .275. Coryatt would record 11 kills and 11 digs in a win over Niagara, before closing out the week with 14 kills against host Kent State in the finale of the Golden Flashes Classic.
 
WALLACE NAMED MEAC CO-SETTER OF THE WEEK: Junior co-captain Roi Wallace averaged a double-double in four matches over the week and was named MEAC Co-Setter of the Week by the league office (9/3). Wallace racked up 164 assists and 45 digs. Her 10.9 assists per set were the best among all MEAC Players for the week. A native of San Dimas, Calif., Wallace began the week setting a career-high 60 assists and adding a career-high 18 digs in a win over Saint Peter's. She then hit for .714, finishing with five kills, while adding 35 assists, seven digs, two blocks and two aces in a sweep of Niagara. Wallace ended the week with 44 assists and 15 digs in the finale against Kent State.
 
MCBRIDE NAMED MEAC ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: Zoe McBride was named MEAC Rookie of the Week, as announced by the league office (9/3). McBride hit .294 to help the Lady Bears to a 2-2 week. A native of Ridgefield, Wash., McBride had 13 kills, eight digs and two aces in the home opening win over Saint Peter's and then totaled nine digs, seven kill and had a match-high four aces against Niagara during the Golden Flashes Classic. She then closed out the week with a 19-kill, 14-dig performance against host Kent State.
 
WALLACE SETS CAREER-HIGHS: Junior Roi Wallace recorded career highs in both assists (60) and digs (18) in the win over Saint Peter's (8/29). Wallace's 60 assists, surpasses the 50 assists she had a year ago against Evansville (9/1), while the 18 digs are two more than her previous high of 16 set last season against Howard (10/4).
 
IN SEARCH OF ANOTHER ONE: Morgan State has not claimed a regular season tournament title since 2014. MSU would capture the 10th Annual Friar Classic, hosted by Providence College, by going a perfect 3-0. MSU dropped just one set the entire weekend, defeating Providence (3-1), and earning back-to-back sweeps of Quinnipiac (3-0) and Fairleigh Dickinson (3-0). It would be the Lady Bears' first regular season tournament title since winning the same tournament in 2004, which was then called the Providence Invitational. 
 
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 enters her 31st season at the helm of the Lady Bear program. The all-time winningest coach at Morgan State (443), 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 theteam 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 ON THE LINE: Morgan State will look to extend its winning ways, as it enters the season unbeaten against four of its opponents: Niagara (12-0), Prairie View A&M (1-0), Jackson State (1-0) and South Carolina State (21-0). The Lady Bears will face Niagara on Aug. 31 in the Golden Flashes Classic and will meet both Prairie View A&M and Jackson State in the New Orleans Tournament on Sept. 7. Morgan State will play host to South Carolina State on Sept. 22 in the finale of the Charm City Classic at Hill Field House.
 
MORGAN-COPPIN TO HOST CHARM CITY CLASSIC: This season the Lady Bears and crosstown rival Coppin State will co-host the 2018 Charm City Classic (Sept. 21-22). This will mark the first time the Lady Bears have hosted a tournament since 2012, when they hosted the Battle at the Bay Tournament. Morgan State will serve as host of the East bracket at Hill Field House, while Coppin State will host the West bracket at the Physical Education Complex. The Classic will match-up members of the MEAC Northern Division (Morgan, Coppin, Delaware State, Norfolk State) against the MEAC Southern Division (North Carolina A&T State, North Carolina Central, South Carolina State). Morgan State will square off against N.C. A&T State on Friday at 7 p.m. and will take on S.C. State on Saturday at 1 p.m.
  
BOZIER SEVEN SHY OF 450: Morgan State head coach Ramona Riley-Bozier entered the 2018 season nine wins shy of career victory No. 450. On Friday, Aug. 31, she picked up her 443rd victory, following a 3-0 sweep of Niagara during the Golden Flashes Classic in Kent, Ohio. Riley-Bozier, who is the all-time winningest coach at Morgan State in any sport with 443 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.
 
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.
 
TOURNAMENT EXPOSURE: Morgan will face two opponents this season (American and Howard) that reached the NCAA Volleyball Tournament in 2017. The Lady Bears will host American on Oct. 17 in Baltimore and will face the three-time defending MEAC champion Howard Lady Bison on Sept. 28 in Washington, D.C. and again on Oct. 26 in Baltimore.
 
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, Shadae Debraux, 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.