BALTIMORE, Md. (Nov. 7, 2021)-Madison Grace and Justyus Jackson each had a match-high 10 kills and Jackson hit for a match-high .615 attack percentage, but it wasn't enough, as visiting Maryland Eastern Shore (MDES) defeated Morgan State, 3-0 (25-18, 30-28, 25-22), on Sunday afternoon at Hill Field House.
 
The loss ended Morgan State's two-match home winning streak and put a damper on Senior Day for the Lady Bears' Kendal Hoges and Jasmin Perry, who were playing in their final home contest of their collegiate career.
 
Maryland Eastern Shore, which swept the season series, improved to 12-12 overall and 7-6 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC).
 
Trailing 15-10 in the opening set, the Lady Bears used a 6-3 run, capped off by a kill from Gabriela Hiciano to bring the hosts within 18-16. That would be as close as Morgan would get, as the Hawks scored the next five points to increase its lead to 23-16. MDES would end the first set with a block by Mauri Carver to give the guests a 25-18 victory.
 
Set 2 may have summed up the season for Morgan State of being so close, yet unable to finish. The Lady Bears took their largest lead of the set at six points (20-14), following a block by Perry and Hiciano and had set-point advantage at 24-19 when the Hawks' committed an attack error. However, Morgan State was unable to close out the set.
 
Back-to-back kills by Marina Cruz and an attack error by Morgan State, cut the Lady Bears' lead to 24-22, forcing a timeout. Cruz went back to work after the timeout, recording two more kills in part of three more points by the Hawks, giving the guests a 25-24 lead. Jackson recorded a kill to end the Hawks' 6-0 run and even the score at 25 all.
 
Grace scored on back-to-back kills to put Morgan back on top 27-26, but a service error and an attack error by Morgan put the Hawks up 28-27. Hoges' solo block evened the score at 28 all, but another Morgan attack error, the 10^th of the set, followed by a kill by MDES's Maya Hendricks gave the visitors a 30-28 victory.
 
In Set 3, Morgan State trailed by as much as seven points (22-15) and looked to stage their own comeback like MDES did in the previous set. Trailing 24-18, the Lady Bears responded with four straight points, capped off by a kill from Grace to pull within 24-22. However, the run would come to an end when the Hawks' Jalynn Robinson and Carver teamed together for a block to give the guests a 25-22 victory.  
 
The Hawks were led by Cruz, who finished with nine kills and added eight digs, while Hendricks added eight kills. Stella Johnson recorded a match-best 16 digs and Robinson finished with 27 assists, five digs and two kills in the win.
 
Despite holding a 37-32 advantage over MDES in kills, Morgan State (5-22, 3-10 MEAC) can look to both attack and service errors as its demise this afternoon. The Lady Bears committed 30 attack errors and had nine service errors in the match.
 
The Lady Bears hit .062 as a team, finishing with 37 kills with 30 attack errors on 112 attack attempts. Morgan State had three service aces, but committed nine service errors. MDES finished the match with 32 kills and 19 errors on 93 attack attempts for a hitting percentage of .140. The Hawks had seven service aces and six service errors.
 
MDES held a 12.0-6.0 blocking advantage over the host Lady Bears. Carver led the Hawks with a match-high six combined blocks, including two solos. Derionah Abner added four blocks, including two solos.
 
Morgan State's Mackenzie Jefferson collected a double-double with a match-high 28 kills and a team-high 14 digs. Alyssa Sampson finished with eight digs and Hiciano added nine kills and six digs and tied a team-high four blocks, including one solo. Hoges tallied a kill, one dig and two blocks, including one solo in her last home contest. Perry totaled six kills, a dig and tied a team-high four blocks, all assisted in her final home match.
 
The Lady Bears will close out the regular season on Friday, Nov. 12 when they visit crosstown rival Coppin State. First serve is at 7 p.m. at the Physical Education Complex Arena, as the Lady Bears will look to spoil the Eagles' Senior Night.
 
Coppin State (14-11, 8-5 MEAC) dropped a five-set thriller on Sunday at home to Delaware State, falling by the scores of 25-23, 23-25, 19-25, 25-21, 10-15. The Eagles won the first meeting against Morgan State, 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 27-25) at Hill Field House (10/1).