BALTIMORE, Md. (Sept. 28, 2019)-Morgan State overcame a 2-0 deficit on Friday night and battled back to win the remaining three sets to defeat visiting Maryland Eastern Shore (MDES), 3-2 (21-25, 15-25, 25-23, 25-21, 15-10) in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Northern Division opener at Hill Field House.

Morgan State (7-7, 1-0 MEAC) improved to 4-1 this season in five-set matches, as well as 4-1 at home. Maryland Eastern Shore fell to 5-11, 0-1 MEAC.

Zoe McBride finished with a match-high 27 kills and Tylar Roberson added 14 to lead the Lady Bears to their second consecutive win. Jennevy Santos tallied a team-high 18 digs and Sophie Pajevic added 11. Roi Wallace, who in last week's win over Binghamton became the third Lady Bear to reach 3,000 assists, finished with a match-high 48 on Friday.

The Hawks were led offensively by Tatjana Trifkovic's 13 kills, while Ilina Spasova and Alex Lee each added 10 kills. Stella Johnson had a match-high 22 digs and Anica Jestratijevic added 12 digs. Spasova and Trifkovic recorded 12 and 10 digs, respectively, to earn double-doubles on the evening.

MDES took a 2-0 lead after hitting a set-best .308 with 12 kills, while holding the Lady Bears to eight kills and seven attack errors for a set-low hitting percentage of .029. 

Despite allowing a set-high 16 kills to the Hawks, Morgan State managed to record 12 kills with just three errors to finish with a .265 attack percentage. It was the Lady Bears' effective use of their opportunities and 10 attack errors by MDES that allowed Morgan State to pull out a 25-23 win in Set 3. 

With the momentum shifting to Morgan State's side, the Lady Bears jumped out to an 11-2 lead in Set 4. The Hawks used a 4-0 run, capped off with a kill by Lee to pull within 23-20. A kill from Roberson ended the run, but a service error on the Lady Bears made it a 24-21 contest. The ensuing play, MDES returned the favor with a service error, allowing Morgan State to claim a 25-21 win and even the score at 2-2. 

The Lady Bears scored four straight points to take a 5-2 lead in the fifth and decisive set. The Hawks trailed 11-10 after a kill from Trifkovic, but the hosts scored the final four points to complete the comeback with a 15-10 victory. Morgan State hit a set-best .429 in the closeout set, recording 10 kills on 21 attempts with just one attack error. 

MDES held an 8.0-7.0 advantage in blocks. Mauri Carver led the guests with a match-high five blocks, while Ivana Blazevic and Lidia Chery added four and three blocks, respectively. Morgan State was led by Shadae Debraux, who had four blocks. Sara Brown and Mykaela Ross finished with two each.  

Morgan State returns to the court on Sunday, Sept. 29, when it welcomes Delaware State for MEAC action at 1 p.m. The Hornets (5-10, 0-1 MEAC) are coming off a 3-0 loss at Coppin State on Friday.