Bear Shots

BALTIMORE, Md. (March 8, 2021) --The Lady Bears returned to the volleyball court exactly 24 days after their last contest, a 3-0 sweep of visiting Howard in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) opener on Feb. 12. Morgan State's hiatus was due to coronavirus health and safety protocols.
 
The two programs met again on Monday evening to finish the second match of their originally scheduled MEAC opening week series which was slated for Feb. 11.
 
Morgan's Tylar Roberson finished with a match-high 14 kills, while Shadae Debraux hit for a match-high .579 and totaled 12 kills, as Morgan State this time needed five sets to defeat the Lady Bison, 3-2 (25-15, 17-25, 25-14, 24-26, 15-10) at Hill Field House.
 
The Lady Bears improved to 3-1, 2-0 in the MEAC Northern Division, while Howard fell to 2-6, 1-5 MEAC. The win also marked career coaching victory No. 475 for Morgan State head coach Ramona Riley-Bozier. Morgan State now leads the all-time series, 40-37 and extended its home winning streak to seven consecutive matches, dating back to the 2019 season.
 
Morgan State, which finished the match with 52 kills and hit for .264, also got a season-best 11 kills from Jourdan Page and Mykaela Ross added eight. Jada Bivins recorded a match- and season-best 42 assists to go with her .500 attack percentage, four kills and five digs. Jennevy Santos collected a match-high 14 digs and Alyssa Sampson added 10.
 
Howard was led by Tamar Wells' 13 kills, while Marcelle Butler and Kailyn Williams each had 11 kills. Kayla Diaz finished with 23 assists and Milexa Cardona had 21. Kendall Smith tallied 12 digs.
 
Howard finished the contest with 50 kills and had 35 attack errors for a hitting percentage of .111. The Lady Bison held a 7.0-6.0 advantage in blocks. Jennifer Bolden, Ana Williams and Wells led Howard with three blocks apiece. Wells and Williams each had a solo block.
 
The Lady Bears were led by Kendal Hoges, who finished with a match-high four blocks, including a solo block.
 
Set 1: The Lady Bears began the match hitting .417 in the opening set, finishing with 11 kills and just one error on 24 attempts. Howard had 10 kills on 34 attempts, but had 12 attack errors and finished with a -.059 hitting percentage. The Lady Bears broke a 13-13 tie by going on a 6-0 run to take a 19-13 lead. Morgan closed out the first set on a 5-1 spurt with Howard committing three attack errors.
 
Set 2: Howard had its best hitting percentage of the match, finishing with 13 kills for an attack percentage of .375, while Morgan State was held to .033 after recording 10 kills, but committed nine errors in 30 attempts. The hosts led 6-2, but Howard scored the next eight points in part of a 16-4 run to increase its lead to 18-10 after a service ace by Kendall Smith.
 
Set 3: The score was even through the first combined 18 points, when the Lady Bears scored three straight in part of an 8-2 run to take a 17-11 lead. Morgan State took advantage of 11 Howard attack errors, as the Lady Bison hit for -.074 in the third set. Morgan State had eight kills with just two errors and finished with a .286 hitting percentage.
 
Set 4: Morgan State had its best total for kills, finishing with 14. However, the Lady Bears committed seven attack errors and hit for .206. Meanwhile the Lady Bison had a .233 attack percentage and finished with 12 kills. Roberson and Debraux had five and four kills, respectively in the set, while Bivins recorded 12 assists. Kailyn Williams led the guests with five kills and had a set-high .571 hitting percentage. The two teams went back-and-forth the entire set. Morgan held a 23-21 lead, but the guests tied it up on back-to-back attack errors by the Lady Bears. The hosts took a 24-23 lead on a kill from Debraux. A service error on Morgan was followed up by an attack error, as the Lady Bison reclaimed the lead, 25-24. Howard would force a fifth and decisive set with a service ace from Cardona for the 26-24 win.
 
Set 5: Morgan State saved its best for last, as it hit a set-best .562 in the final set. The Lady Bears would record nine kills on 16 attempts with no errors. Howard finished with six kills on 20 attempts and had three errors for a hitting percentage of .150. Morgan State surrendered the first point then scored the next two points and never trailed again. The Lady Bears held an 11-9 lead and closed out the contest using a 4-1 spurt for the victory.  
 
Next Up: Morgan State will host crosstown rival Coppin State on Thursday-Friday, March 11-12 in a two-match MEAC series at Hill Field House. First serve is slated for 6 p.m. both days.
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ABOUT MORGAN
Morgan State University, founded in 1867, is a Carnegie-classified doctoral research institution offering more than 126 academic programs leading to degrees from the baccalaureate to the doctorate. As Maryland's Preeminent Public Urban Research University, Morgan serves a multiethnic and multiracial student body and seeks to ensure that the doors of higher education are opened as wide as possible to as many as possible. For more information about Morgan State University, visit www.morgan.edu.