NORFOLK, Va. (August 2, 2019)-The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) released its preseason volleyball poll on Friday afternoon and Morgan State was picked to finish third in the MEAC Northern Division as voted on by the league's head coaches and sports information directors. This is the fourth consecutive season that the Lady Bears have been picked to finish third.
 
Howard was picked as the preseason favorite in the northern division, while Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman were tied as the favorites in the southern division. Maria Yvette Garcia of Florida A&M was selected as MEAC Preseason Player of the Year.
 
Howard, which has won the last four MEAC volleyball titles, went 9-1 in league play last season to take another northern division crown. The Lady Bison, who are picked to do so again this season, garnered a league-best 15 first-place votes and tallied 125 points for the division's top spot in the predicted order of finish.
 
Maryland Eastern Shore was picked to finish second in the MEAC Northern Division. The Hawks received four first-place votes and received 93 points, while Morgan State had 88 points and earned two first-place votes.
 
Coppin State, Delaware State and Norfolk State (one first-place vote) rounded out the division poll.
 
Florida A&M secured 10 first-place votes for 88 points, while Bethune-Cookman also had 88 points with five first-place votes to tie as the preseason favorites in the MEAC Southern Division.
 
North Carolina A&T State, which advanced to last season's MEAC Championship match, received seven first-place votes en route to being picked to finish third with 87 points. North Carolina Central and South Carolina State were slated to finish fourth and fifth, respectively.
 
Last season the Lady Bears were also picked to finish third in the northern division and tallied a 13-15 overall mark and went 5-5 in the MEAC North, which was good for fourth-place. Morgan State returns 12 letterwinners, including four starters from last year's team. In addition, the Lady Bears will welcome five newcomers this year.

Morgan State opens up the 2019 campaign at home for the first time in 15 years, when it plays host to Seton Hall on Friday, August 30 in the opener of the Morgan/Towson Invitational (Aug. 30-31) at Hill Field House. The Lady Bears conclude Day 1 against William & Mary, before facing crosstown rival Towson for the first time since 2012 in the finale on Saturday evening.
 
The 2019 MEAC Volleyball Championship will be held Nov. 22-24 at Burr Gymnasium on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C. The top four teams in each division will qualify for the tournament.
 
The MEAC Media Relations office contributed to this release.

2019 MEAC Volleyball Preseason Predicted Order of Finish
(first-place votes in parenthesis)
 
 Northern Division
1. Howard (15), 125 pts.
2. Maryland Eastern Shore (4), 93 pts.
3. Morgan State (2), 88 pts.
4. Coppin State, 77 pts.
5. Delaware State, 42 pts.
6. Norfolk State (1), 37 pts.
 
Southern Division
T-1. Florida A&M (10) 88 pts.
T-1. Bethune-Cookman (5), 88 pts.
3. North Carolina A&T State (7), 87 pts.
4. North Carolina Central, 44 pts.
5. South Carolina State, 23 pts.

2019 MEAC Volleyball Preseason Team
Preseason Player of the Year: Maria Yvette Garcia, Florida A&M
 

Name	Pos.	Cl.	School	Hometown
Jordan Jefferson	OH	Jr.	Bethune-Cookman	San Antonio, Texas
Miajavon Coleman	OH	So.	Coppin State	San Antonio, Texas
Maria Yvette Garcia	OH	Sr.	Florida A&M	Santo Domingo, D.R.
Kira Porter	MB	Sr.	Howard	Lake Tahoe, Nev.
Jurnee Tipton	OH	Jr.	Howard	Ypsilanti, Mich.
Fola Wilson	L	Jr.	Howard	Minneapolis, Minn.
Courteney Pitt	OH	Jr.	N.C. A&T State	Farmville, N.C.