WASHINGTON, D.C. (Oct. 7, 2022)—The Morgan State volleyball team traveled to the Nation's Capital on Friday to take on Beltway rival and defending Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) champion Howard at Burr Gymnasium. The host Bison would defeat Morgan State, 3-0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-14) to earn their fourth straight victory over the Lady Bears and even the all-time series at 41-41.
Morgan State (2-16, 1-3 MEAC) was led by
Madison Grace, who finished the evening with eight kills and three digs, while
Makila Billingsley added five kills.
Mackenzie Jefferson totaled 10 assists, three service aces, four digs and a kill.
Trinity Carruthers collected 10 assists, two digs and a kill and
Tyasia McDuffie finished with a team-high eight digs and an ace.
The Bison (8-7, 2-1 MEAC) received a match-high nine kills from Jennifer Bolden and Tamar Wells and Rya McKinnon each added six kills. Essence Bell had a match-best nine digs and a match-high four service aces, while Kayla Diaz recorded a match-high 21 assists.
The hosts hit .348 in the opening set and recorded 12 kills, while Morgan State had six kills and hit .000 for the set. Howard used a 14-4 spurt to take a 21-9 advantage.
In Set 2, the Bison would hit a set-best .360 with Bolden and Wells each totaling four kills to account for eight of the team's 14 kills in the set. Morgan State trailed 11-10 after a kill by
Melanie Battle, but the host Bison upped their lead to 21-15 by using a 10-5 run. The Lady Bears would get as close as four points (22-18) before Howard closed out the contest scoring four of the final five points.
In Set 3, Howard led 10-8 before using an 8-2 run to take an 18-10 advantage, capped by back-to-back attack errors by Morgan State. The Bison would score the last five points of the set to earn a 25-14 victory.
Howard hit .289 for the match with 36 kills, while holding Morgan State to .036 hitting with 23 kills. The Bison held a 5.0-0.0 blocking advantage with Maya Gerlach leading the way with three combined blocks.
Morgan State will welcome Norfolk State (2-11, 2-1 MEAC) to Hill Field House on Sunday, Oct. 9 to celebrate Homecoming. First serve will be at 1 p.m. The Spartans were dealt their first MEAC loss of the season, following a 3-0 defeat at Coppin State on Friday. The Lady Bears are riding a four-match winning streak on Homecoming with all four wins coming by way of 3-0 victories, including last season's sweep of South Carolina State.
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ABOUT MORGAN
Morgan State University, founded in 1867, is a Carnegie-classified
high research (R2) institution offering nearly 140 academic programs leading to degrees from the baccalaureate to the doctorate. As Maryland's
Preeminent Public Urban Research University, and the only university to have its entire campus
designated as a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, 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.
