BALTIMORE, Md. (Nov. 9, 2022)--The Morgan State volleyball team traveled to Princess Anne, Md. this morning to take on Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) match at the Hytche Athletic Center.
 
Maryland Eastern Shore would hold off Morgan State, 3-1 (23-25, 14-25, 25-21, 10-25) to earn the season series win over the Lady Bears, by claiming two of the three matchups, including both MEAC contests.
 
Morgan State fell to 3-24 overall and 2-11 in the MEAC, while the Hawks improved to 8-16, 6-7 in the MEAC.
 
Mackenzie Jefferson recorded 20 assists and nine digs, falling short of a double-double for the contest. She did however surpass the 1,000 assists mark for her career at Morgan State with 1,005. Alyssa Sampson led the team with 14 digs and Makila Billingsley finished with seven kills. Melanie Battle and Justyus Jackson each added six kills. Jourdan Page and Jefferson each had a match-high three solo blocks.
 
The Hawks were led by Alexis Lee, who finished with a match-high 11 kills. Sydney Morris (.500 hitting) and Soleil Cotton (.750 hitting) each added six kills in the win. Sophia Chacon and Romina Vacca split the duties at setter and recorded 19 and 16 assists, respectively. Isli Yilmaz paced the UMES defense with a match-high 27 digs and Valeria Matias tallied 10. Charlize Williams finished with five blocks, including two solos to help the Hawks to an 8-7 blocks advantage over Morgan.
 
Morgan State jumped out to a 5-1 lead in Set 1, but the Hawks responded with an 8-3 run to even the score at 8-8. With the score tied at 19 all, the Hawks scored the next three points to take a three-point lead at 22-19. Morgan State went on its own 3-0 run, capped off by a service ace from Tyasia McDuffie to tie the score at 23. However, a service error on Morgan State, followed by an ace from the Hawks' Nkemjika Ikemefuna, gave the hosts a 25-23 win in the opening set.
 
After dropping the second set, 25-14 to fall behind 2-0, Morgan State would respond in Set 3. The Lady Bears used a 5-1 spurt to break a 16 all tie and take a 21-17 lead. The Hawks would not go away, as they scored the next three points in part of a 4-1 run to pull within 22-21. The Lady Bears put the contest away with three straight points with the final point coming on a kill from Jadyn Perkins for the 25-21 victory.
 
In the fourth and final set, UMES scored the first four points and used another 4-0 run to take an early 12-4 advantage. Morgan State got as close as six points with the last coming at 14-8 after a service error on the Hawks. UMES then scored 10 consecutive points to increase its cushion to 15 points at 24-9.
 
The Lady Bears will wrap up the regular season this Friday, Nov. 11, when they return home to take on crosstown rival Coppin State in the season finale. First serve is at 6 p.m. at Hill Field House. The contest will be 'Senior Night' for Morgan State, as the program will honor its lone senior Melanie Battle prior to the match.