BALTIMORE, Md. (July 31, 2022)--First-year Morgan State head volleyball coach Xiomara Ortiz has announced the Lady Bears' 2022 schedule.
 
The 29-match schedule features 15 non-conference contests, four pre-season tournaments and a 14-match Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) slate. The Lady Bears will play inside the friendly confines of Hill Field House seven times.
 
Two of Morgan's opponents (Howard and Towson) reached the NCAA Tournament a year ago, while two more (Delaware State and Valparaiso) took part in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC). Valparaiso would advance to the NIVC title match. Four opponents, Valparaiso (46), Towson (66), Princeton (82) and Campbell (94), finished ranked in the top 100 last season.
 
"I am excited for our team to show our character against tough teams for this coming fall," said Ortiz. "I feel it is important to push for a challenging preseason schedule with teams that are highly ranked in RPI, including top 100 teams, and even teams coming off winning conference championship seasons. This helps to prepare us for conference play." 
 
The Lady Bears begin the 2022 campaign playing all 15 of their scheduled non-conference contests on the road.
 
MSU opens the season in Charlotte, NC, taking part in the Charlotte Invitational (Aug. 26-27), hosted by Charlotte. The Lady Bears will face host Charlotte in the opener on Friday morning, before closing out Day 1 with a night contest against Campbell. Morgan will wrap up the weekend with a single match on Saturday evening against Wofford.
 
The Lady Bears will stay close to home the following week, as they will compete in the three-day Towson Invitational (Sept. 2-4). MSU will meet Princeton in Friday's opener, before squaring off against Radford in the evening. On Saturday, the Lady Bears will face Rutgers in their lone match of the day. Morgan closes out the tournament on Sunday with a match-up against rival Towson, followed by Queens University for its finale.
 
Week 3 is highlighted with a trip to the Midwest with stops in Cleveland and Akron, Ohio for the Cleveland State/Akron Tournament. First up is a match against Valparaiso, before taking on host Cleveland State in the evening. Morgan State will conclude its Ohio visit on Saturday with a 45-minute drive down I-77 South to The City of Invention, to visit the host Akron.
 
Morgan will take a break from tournament play with a midweek contest in the Nation's Capital at American (Sept. 14).
 
The Lady Bears will then close out their preseason tournament slate when they compete in the George Mason Invitational (Sept. 16-17) in Fairfax, Va. Morgan will take on a familiar foe in its opening match on Friday in MEAC foe, Maryland Eastern Shore. The contest will be a non-conference match and will not count towards the league standings. On Saturday, Morgan State will face New Hampshire in the morning and will conclude the tournament playing host George Mason in the finale.
 
"We have a majority of juniors and sophomores with some on-court experience that we can rely on to keep composure during tough matches," said Ortiz on the non-conference schedule. "Preseason is about learning and figuring out ways to be competitive in matches. But our priority is to define our character and the type of foundation we want to set for our culture during this time!"
 
Morgan State will welcome both North Carolina Central (Sept. 27) and South Carolina State (Sept. 29) to Hill Field House to begin the 2022 MEAC season. Friday's MEAC opener against NCCU will also mark the Lady Bears' first home contest of the year.
 
The team will visit crosstown rival Coppin State (Sept. 30) for the season's first meeting of the Battle of Baltimore.
 
The Lady Bears will take on beltway rival and defending MEAC champion, Howard (Oct. 7) in Washington, D.C., before returning home to entertain Norfolk State (Oct. 9) for its annual Homecoming contest.
 
Morgan State will travel to Dover, Del. to face Delaware State (10/14), before returning home to host Maryland Eastern Shore (10/16) to close out the first half of the MEAC slate.
 
The Lady Bears will take to the road to begin the second half of the league schedule when they travel to Durham, N.C. to face North Carolina Central (Oct. 21), before heading to Orangeburg, S.C. to visit South Carolina State (Oct. 23).
 
After returning home to welcome Howard (Oct. 28), Morgan State will then travel to Virginia's Tidewater area to face Norfolk State (Oct. 30).
 
Delaware State will visit Hill Field House to take on the Lady Bears on Nov. 4. Morgan will then travel to Princess Anne, Md. to take on Maryland Eastern Shore (Nov. 6).
 
Morgan State will conclude the regular season at home against rival Coppin State (Nov. 11). The contest will mark Senior Night for the Lady Bears.
 
This year's MEAC Volleyball Championship will be held at Memorial Hall in Dover, Del. (Nov. 18-20), hosted by Delaware 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.