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WASHINGTON, D.C. (Nov. 24, 2019)-The Morgan State volleyball team will look to finish its quest for the program's sixth Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Championship when the No. 2 seeded Lady Bears out of the MEAC Northern Division take the court on Sunday night to face the Northern Division's No. 1 seed and four-time defending champion Howard Bison in the MEAC title match at 8 p.m. at Burr Gymnasium on the Howard University campus in Washington, D.C. The contest will air live on ESPNU and ESPN3.
 
"This is my first time ever playing on television. When I saw you all [ESPN personalities] come over at that table I was like, I we're going to see them upstairs," said Morgan State head coach Ramona Riley-Bozier. "To be here 32 seasons and never have had that opportunity, it's my own personal goal that I had. I wanted the opportunity to coach and for us to be on TV and for someone to not just read about Morgan State, but to also see some orange and blue representing Morgan State on television."
 
Sunday's title match will be the 13^th MEAC Championship Tournament meeting between the two teams, including the fourth in the title match. Howard holds a 9-3 record over Morgan State in the MEAC Tournament and is a perfect 3-0 against the Lady Bears in the title match. The two last met in the 1995 title match, a sweep by Howard.
 
This will be the 13^th MEAC title appearance for the Lady Bears, who have a 4-8 record in the title match. The Lady Bears last appearance was in 2006, a 3-0 loss to top-seeded Florida A&M. Morgan State's last title came in 2000 when it swept Florida A&M.
 
Morgan State (18-12, 10-5 MEAC) enters the contest riding a three-match winning streak and is winners of 10 of its last 11 matches, including a season-long seven-match winning streak during the regular season. During the winning streak was a 3-0 sweep of Howard in Baltimore (11/1) to hand the Bison their lone MEAC loss.
 
The Lady Bears reached the title match with a thrilling five-set win on Saturday night over North Carolina A&T, the top-seed in the MEAC Southern Division and the defending MEAC Tournament runner-up from a year ago.
 
MEAC Co-Player of the Year Zoe McBride hit for .339 with a match-high 26 kills and added 15 digs to record her 17^th double-double of the season. Tylar Roberson earned her 11^th double-double with 15 kills and 10 digs, while MyKaela Ross finished with 12 kills to help the Lady Bears total 63 kills in the match.
 
All-MEAC second team selection Roi Wallace collected her fifth double-double of the season, finishing with 16 digs and a match-high 50 assists, to move into second-place all-time in assists at Morgan State with 3,687 for her career. She also added a match-high five service aces.
 
"Moving up into second all-time in assists was a huge goal that Coach [Bozier] and I set for myself last spring," said Wallace. "We knew we'd need to make it to semifinals for me to accomplish it and it feels so good to make it this far and accomplish two goals at once.
 
"Advancing this far feels almost like a dream. Being the first team since 2006 to make it this far shows all of our hard work this season. We really have left it all on the court and knowing that we'll be the first team in 19 years to win the whole thing will feel so amazing."
 
Morgan State also received strong performances from Shadae Debraux, who hit for a team-high 3.85 with seven kills and totaled a career-high six blocks, while Sophie Pajevic recorded 13 digs. Senior Jasmin Hubbard, who was thrown into the starting Libero spot with the sudden illness of Jennevy Santos, stepped up and played her best match of the season and possibly her career. Hubbard recorded a match-high 22 digs, falling two shy of her career-high 24, while adding a career-high eight assists and a service ace.
 
"It was truly a team effort. We wake up early and work hard everyday to be able to do what we did tonight," said Hubbard. "I couldn't be happier to live out my senior season this way. Personally, I wasn't going to let any ball drop and I know that energy was felt by the team. It was genuinely the best game we have played this season. Looking forward to bigger and better things tomorrow night against Howard. We are ready to fight and we are ready to win."
 
Howard (19-12, 14-1 MEAC) the four-time defending MEAC Champion, defeated Coppin State 3-1 in the first semifinal match to make their fifth MEAC title match appearance. Jurnee Tipton hit for .600 and had a double-double with a match-high 19 kills and 11 digs. Kailyn Williams had 12 kills and Myca Mitchell added 11. Fola Wilson posted 19 digs, while Semira Blair and Kayla Diaz finished with 27 and 24 assists, respectively. The Bison enter the title match on a seven-match winning streak.
 
SERIES RECORD VS. HOWARD: Morgan State leads the all-time series against Howard, 38-36, after splitting both matches this season with each team winning on its home floor. Howard won the first meeting, 3-0 in Washington, D.C. (10/8) and Morgan State returned the favor with a sweep in Baltimore (11/1) to hand Howard its lone MEAC loss of the season. Howard holds a 9-3 lead over Morgan State in MEAC Championship play, including 3-0 in the title match.
 
LADY BEARS GET 2ND SEED IN NORTH: Morgan State enters the 2019 MEAC Championships as the second-seed in the northern division and will face the No. 3 seed from the MEAC's Southern Division, Bethune-Cookman in quarterfinal action on Friday, Nov. 22 at 8 p.m. at Burr Gymnasium on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C.
  
MCBRIDE NAMED MEAC CO-PLAYER OF YEAR: Zoe McBride was named MEAC Co-Player of the Year and to the All-MEAC first team, as announced by the league office. McBride, who shares the honor with North Carolina A&T's Edie Brewer, finished the regular season leading the team in kills (507), while finishing second in digs (301), blocks (43) and service aces (36), and had 10 assists. The Ridgefield, Wash., native totaled 16 double-doubles on the season and was named MEAC Player of the Week seven times and led the MEAC in kills and kills per set at 4.88 per set, which also sits 10^th in the nation.
 
WALLACE NAMED TO ALL-MEAC SECOND TEAM: Senior setter Roi Wallace was named to the All-MEAC second team. Wallace, finished the regular season earning six MEAC Setter of the Week honors. A native of San Dimas, Calif., Wallace led the team in assists for a fourth consecutive season, collecting a season-best 1,044 assists, which ranks sixth on the single-season chats. She ranks third on the all-time charts with 3,580 assists, 65 shy of moving into second-place. Wallace led the MEAC in total assists (1,044), assists per set (10.04) and second in service aces (0.50).
 
BOZIER RECORDS WIN NO. 470: Morgan State head coach Ramona Riley-Bozier earned career coaching victory No. 470, following a sweep of Delaware State (11/17). A native of Kansas City, Mo., Riley-Bozier, who is the all-time winningest coach at Morgan State in any sport with 472 career victories as the volleyball coach, is also the softball program's all-time career leader with 161 victories in nine seasons at the helm. Riley-Bozier began 2019 with 454 career victories, which ranked 33rd in career wins among active coaches on the NCAA's Division I coaching list.
 
ALL-MEAC ACADEMIC TEAM: Morgan State had seven (Shadae Debraux, Jasmin Hubbard, Zoe McBride, Jasmin Perry, Roi Wallace, Nia Smith and Triniti Smith) selected to the MEAC Volleyball All-Academic Team. MEAC sophomore, junior and senior student-athletes with a 3.0 or better cumulative grade point average, as well as transfer student-athletes who have been in residence at the institution for at least one year, are eligible for All-Academic accolades.
 
SIXTH STRAIGHT: After failing to reach the MEAC Volleyball Championship Tournament during the 2012 and 2013 seasons, the Lady Bears will be making their sixth consecutive trip. Morgan State enters the championship with a 16-12 overall mark and finished as the second-seed in the MEAC Northern Division with a 10-5 overall MEAC record and 6-4 in the MEAC North.
 
MORGAN IN THE MEAC CHAMPIONSHIPS: The Lady Bears, who are making their sixth straight appearance in the MEAC volleyball championship tournament, have an all-time MEAC championship record of 48-35. Last season Morgan State dropped a tough 3-2 decision to Florida A&M in the quarterfinal round. The Lady Bears, who have reached the title match 12 times, winning the crown five times (1992, 1997, 1998, 1999-later forfeited by Florida A&M, 2000), have not won the championship since 2000. Morgan State's last appearance in the title match came during the 2006 season, resulting in the Lady Bears suffering a 3-0 loss to Florida A&M.
 
BOZIER SEARCHING FOR NO. 6: Morgan State head volleyball coach Ramona Riley-Bozier, who is in the midst of her 32nd season at the helm of the Lady Bear program, will look to guide the Lady Bears to the school's sixth MEAC Volleyball title. The all-time winningest coach at Morgan State (472), Riley-Bozier has led MSU to five MEAC Championships, three NCAA appearances and earned MEAC Coach of the Year honors five times.
 
MCBRIDE, WALLACE EARN SIXTH MEAC WEEKLY HONOR: Zoe McBride was named MEAC Co-Player of the Week, while Roi Wallace was named MEAC Setter of the Week by the league office (Nov, 11). It was the sixth weekly honor for both. McBride hit .467, while recording 18 kills, four digs, three service aces and three blocks in the win at Coppin State (11/8). Wallace averaged 12.3 assists per set against Coppin State. She finished with a match-high 37 assists, five digs and two service aces in the win.
 
MAKE IT A DOUBLE: Sophomore Zoe McBride has tallied a career-best 17 double-doubles this season, while junior Tylar Roberson has 11 and Roi Wallace has totaled five.
 
AMONG THE LEAGUE'S BEST: Roi Wallace led the MEAC during the regular season in assists with 10.04 per set, while Zoe McBride led the conference in kills at 4.88 per set. Jennevy Santos ranked second in the league in digs with 4.36 per set and Wallace ranked second in service aces (0.50). Tylar Roberson ranked fifth in kills (3.28 per set). As a team the Lady Bears led the MEAC in assists (11.44) and kills (12.31), while ranking second in opponent hitting percentage (.185) and digs (15.01). Morgan State also finished ranked fourth in hitting percentage at .194.
 
PROTECTING HOME: Morgan State finished the 2019 home slate with a 9-3 mark, following its sweep of Norfolk State in the Hill Field House finale on Senior Day (11/3). The nine home victories are the most since the 2006 campaign, when that team went 9-0.
 
THIS TIME IT COUNTS: When Morgan State faced North Carolina Central (10/4) it marked the first time since 2006 that a contest against a MEAC Southern Division opponent counted toward the MEAC's regular season standings. 2006 was the last time the MEAC held its annual MEAC Round-Up which saw the two divisions square off against each other. The league did away with the round-up in 2007 and until this season, any cross divisional play counted as a non-conference match. The Lady Bears faced the entire MEAC Southern Division and went 4-1 on the season, defeating both Bethune-Cookman (10/18) and Florida A&M (10/20) on the road and North Carolina Central (10/4) and South Carolina State (10/25) at home. Morgan State's lone loss came at home to North Carolina A&T (10/6), who would go on and win the MEAC Southern Division crown.
 
STILL UNBEATEN: Morgan State entered the season unbeaten against MEAC members North Carolina Central and South Carolina State and remained that way. The Lady Bears defeat NCCU (10/04) in four sets to improve to 3-0 against the Eagles and later swept SCCU (10/25) to extend its all-time series lead against the Lady Bulldogs to 23-0.
 
WALLACE BECOMES THIRD TO REACH 3,000 ASSISTS: Roi Wallace became the third Lady Bear in school history to reach 3,000 career assists, when the Lady Bears defeated Binghamton (3-2) in the finale of the Hoya Invitational (9/21). Wallace, who finished the match with 55 assists, reached the 3,000-plateau when her 46th assist of the match resulted in a kill by Tylar Roberson to bring the Lady Bears within a point at (21-20) in the fourth set. Wallace entered the season third on the Morgan State charts with a total of 2,536 career assists. She has currently totaled a season-best 1,151 assists this season to give her 3,687 for her career, which ranks second all-time.
 
HUBBARD MOVES INTO FOURTH ALL-TIME IN DIGS: Senior Jasmin Hubbard picked up two digs in the win over North Carolina Central (10/4) to give her 1,002 career digs and move her past former Lady Bear Dina Beamon (1,000 digs from 2008-10) for fourth-place all-time on the Morgan State charts. Hubbard recorded four digs in the previous match against Delaware State (9/29) to give her exactly 1,000 digs for her career. The Reno, Nevada native entered the 2019 campaign with 974 career digs and was ranked sixth. She currently has 1,086 career digs.
  
TAKE FIVE: Morgan State played in a total of eight five-set matches this season, going 6-2 in those contests, following its semifinal win over North Carolina A&T (11/23). The Lady Bears began the season playing in back-to-back five-set contests, winning both of them over Seton Hall and William & Mary on opening day (8/30). Morgan State later played in three consecutive five-set matches, claiming the first two, before suffering its first five-set loss of the season to Delaware State (9/29).
 
BEST START EVER: The Morgan State volleyball team's 5-1 mark was its best start in school history through the first six matches, after going 2-1 in the Knights Fall Classic (Sept. 6-7). Twice the program has began a season with a 4-2 record (1982, 94). 
 
SAYING GOODBYE: Morgan State said goodbye to its seniors, Jasmin Hubbard and Roi Wallace prior to its regular season finale 'Senior Day' match against Norfolk State on Nov. 3 at Hill Field House. The Lady Bears would win in three sets.
 
2019 MEAC CHAMPIONSHIP: This year's 2019 MEAC volleyball championship will take place November 22-24 in Washington, D.C. at Howard University's Burr Gymnasium.