PORTLAND, Ore. (Sept. 13, 2019)-Morgan State outside/right side hitter Zoe McBride will look to lead the Lady Bears in a familiar place, this weekend in Portland, Oregon, where the Morgan State volleyball team will take part in the Les Schwab Rose City Showdown, hosted by Portland State University.
 
While Morgan State is making the program's first trip to Portland, McBride will return to a place she is familiar with. The 6-foot sophomore was born in Portland and lived there for 2-2 1/2 years before her family moved across the river to Ridgefield, Washington, roughly 20-25 minutes away.
 
"I was excited. I get a chance to play in my home city and the team can see where I am from," said McBride of seeing Portland State on the schedule. "I was there this summer. Portland is only 20 minutes from my house on the other side of the river, so I go back very frequently when I'm at home."
 
With this being the first time McBride has played close to home since her high school days, she's expecting plenty of family to make their way to the matches this weekend.
 
"I don't know the exact number, but probably a good amount over the weekend," said McBride. "My family will be there for sure since they can't see me play in person on a regular basis."
 
Her parents and one of her sisters all have post graduate degrees from Portland State and her father Tim, played football for the Vikings. Even though the Portland State green and white runs in her family, Zoe found her way across the country to Morgan State to create her own path.
 
"I had always wanted to go far away from home for college. I wanted to push myself to be independent away from home and things I was used to," said McBride. "I never had really thought about Maryland, but Coach [Bozier] contacted me and I didn't know much about Morgan before that. I looked it up and looked into the school and what it had to offer and talked to my dad and it had things that I wanted in a school so now here I am."
 
A year ago McBride burst on the scene by garnering five Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Rookie of the Week selections and was named to the all-rookie team, becoming the first Lady Bear to earn all-rookie accolades since 2006. McBride finished second on the team in kills (329) and digs (255), while adding 42 blocks, a team-leading 42 service aces and had 21 assists. She ranked third in the MEAC in service aces and was seventh in kills and finished just shy of MEAC Rookie of the Year honors in the league voting.
 
Despite all of the accomplishments during her freshman season, she was not voted to the league's preseason team this year. She has taken it in stride and turned it into motivation and fuel for this season.
 
"I was a little upset at first. I felt that I performed well for my freshman season, but I then set my mind to doing better than last year and doing whatever it is my team needs," said McBride. "My personal goal is for us to advance in the tournament this year and for us to be the team that people talk about and the team that people want to play, not because we will be easy, but because it's going to be a challenge and every game we play to be competitive."
 
The Lady Bears, who won their first season opener in 11 seasons, began 2-0 for the first time since 1999 and at 5-2, are off to their best start in school history.
 
"I wasn't surprised. We have been working really hard in practice and had to make adjustments due to personnel changes this year and everyone has contributed a lot so far," said McBride of the team's fast start. "I think the difference is now we have more confidence going forward in facing big teams. Pulling out the win against Seton Hall was big for us and then following it up with William & Mary was a huge confidence booster for us just to know that we are good and we can compete with those teams."
 
McBride has played a huge part in Morgan State's early season success. Heading into this weekend's tournament, McBride has recorded a team-best 121 kills and is second on the team in both digs (79) and blocks (14). She tallied a career-high 30 kills with 13 digs and three blocks in the season opening win over Seton Hall (8/30) in the opener of the Morgan/Towson Invitational.
 
In the first two weeks of the season, McBride has earned two all-tournament team honors and was named MEAC Player of the Week twice, including Co-Player of the Week this past Monday.  She currently leads the MEAC in kills (4.84 kps), fifth in hitting percentage (.260) and ninth in digs (3.11 dps). McBride ranks among NCAA leaders in seven categories, including total kills (8^th), points (10^th), total attacks (11^th) and kills per set (20^th).
 
"She's a solid skill player all the way around and I don't know if she knows how good she can actually be," said Morgan State head coach Ramona Riley-Bozier of McBride. "We want more from her so early and we hope that the on court mentality will kick in before conference play and the tournament. I want her to have some sense of being arrogant and have that attitude and mentality that she can't be stopped. That's what we need from her, especially because we are weak in a few offensive areas."
 
Morgan State was dealt a blow a day before summer camp was to begin when junior starting middle Kalysia Bates (KB) did not return. Bates led the Lady Bears in 2018 in blocks with 93, including 19 solo blocks. She finished third on the team in kills with 248 and added 69 digs and 26 service aces.
 
"I think it brought us together as a team to push through adversity and become better," said McBride. "It was a loss to lose KB, but our middles have really stepped up and are doing a great job. I think we are getting better defensively and working hard every day to not be complacent and pushing each other in practice everyday."
 
By chance of the schedule set up, the Lady Bear's first two tournaments have seen them playing for what would be for a tournament championship in their final match. However, both times Morgan State would fall short in the title match. McBride believes if they stay consistent, they can pull out a tournament win this weekend in Portland, as well as a conference title in November.
 
"It will take us to stay consistent all weekend. We aren't at home and we are traveling far," said McBride. "These teams aren't like the teams we have played so far and I think that's going to be a good challenge for us and we are all super excited for this weekend. I know we have what it takes to reach (and win) the MEAC Tournament. We just need to stay consistent and competitive in our play all season long."