Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 BALTIMORE, Md. (Sept. 1, 2022)--The Lady Bears will stay close to home this weekend when they travel to nearby Towson, Md. for the Towson Invitational (Sept. 2-4). Morgan State will face Princeton at 10 a.m. in the tournament opener on Friday, before taking on Radford at 7 p.m. On Saturday, MSU will battle Rutgers at 1 p.m., before closing out the tournament on Sunday against host Towson at 1 p.m. All matches can be seen live on FloSports ($) and live stats are available here for all matches.
 
MSU AGAINST THE FIELD: Princeton holds an 8-0 all-time lead over Morgan State. This will be the second meeting between Morgan State and Radford, which holds a 1-0 lead over Morgan. Rutgers leads the series, 2-0. This weekend will mark the 26th all-time meeting between the Lady Bears and host Towson. The Tigers swept last year's home-and-home series and holds a 21-4 all-time advantage.  
 
NEXT UP: The Lady Bears will take to the road when they travel to Ohio for the Cleveland State/Akron Tournament (Sept. 9-10). Morgan State will meet Valparaiso on Friday, Sept. 9 at 11 a.m. The match will be played on the campus of co-host the University of Akron. Later that evening the Lady Bears will visit co-host Cleveland State at 6 p.m. On Saturday, the Lady Bears will close out the tournament at Akron at noon.
 
LAST WHISTLE: Morgan State began the 2022 season competing at the Charlotte Invitational (Aug. 26-27). The Lady Bears would drop all three of their contests in three sets to host Charlotte, Campbell and Wofford.
 
ORTIZ TAKES OVER THE HELM: On May, 25, 2022, Xiomara Ortiz was announced as the new head coach of the Morgan State volleyball program. Ortiz, who became the seventh coach in program history, takes over for Ramona Riley-Bozier, who during her 34-year career captured nine MEAC regular season titles, four outright MEAC Tournament titles, guided the Lady Bears to three NCAA Tournament appearances, while becoming the school's all-time winningest coach in any sport with 481 victories. Ortiz comes to Morgan after spending a year as the assistant coach at Shippensburg University during the 2021 season and the previous three seasons as an assistant coach at Lehigh University. A native of South Setauket, N.Y., Ortiz had a stellar four-year career as a libero at Binghamton University, where she set the school records for single-season digs (551) and career digs (1,925) in 116 matches played. As a freshman, she earned America East All-Rookie honors and was named to the All-America East Second Team as a sophomore. She was also a three-time member of the America East Honor Roll.
 
BILLINGSLEY NAMED TO CHARLOTTE INVITATIONAL TEAM: Makila Billingsley was named to the Charlotte Invitational All-Tournament Team (8/27) after leading the team in kills with 2.67 per set, while totaling 24 kills, six digs and adding three blocks in three starts over the weekend. A native of Plainfield, N.J., Billingsley began the season recording eight kills with an attack percentage of .316, while adding two digs and a block at Charlotte. She added another eight kills, two digs and a block against Campbell. Billingsley ended the weekend hitting a match-best .333 and finishing with eight kills, two digs and a block against Wofford in the finale.
 
OPENING SERVE: Morgan State fell to 9-21 in season openers since the 1993 season, after falling in last week's season opener in three sets at Charlotte (8/26). The Lady Bears' last opening day victory was a 3-2 win at home against Seton Hall in the opener of the Morgan/Towson Invitational (8/30/19).
 
FOLLOW THE LADY BEARS ON TWITTER: Morgan volleyball fans can follow the Lady Bears on Twitter. Check out regular updates on the team which will feature live tweets from games and on road trips. To follow the Morgan State Athletics Twitter page visit Twitter.com/MorganStBears.
 
MORGAN PICKED SEVENTH IN MEAC: Morgan State was picked to finish seventh in the eight-team Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) preseason poll, as voted by the league's head coaches and sports information directors. Last season the Lady Bears were picked to finish tied for fourth in the MEAC with Maryland Eastern Shore and ended up seventh.
 
COLEMAN NAMED ASSISTANT COACH: Maegan Coleman will enter her first season as an assistant coach at Morgan State for the 2022 season. Coleman comes to Morgan after spending the 2021 season as the head coach at Cheyney University. Prior to Cheyney, Coleman also had one-year stints at West Alabama and Lamar Community College. While at LCC, the team ranked 13th in the nation for block solos, 32nd in digs and 37th in service aces in 2019. A native of Lancaster, Texas, Coleman began her collegiate career at Tyler Junior College, before concluding her playing career at Prairie View A&M. She helped the Panthers win two Southwestern Athletic Conference Western Division titles. Coleman was awarded the Student-Athlete Academic Award three times, and was the first student-athlete from Prairie View A&M to earn a Nike Internship.
   
SOMEONE NEW: Morgan State will square off against two first-time opponents this season. The Lady Bears will face Wofford (8/27) in the finale of the Charlotte Invitational and will visit Akron (9/10) in the finale of the Cleveland State/Akron Tournament.
 
POSTSEASON EXPERIENCE: Morgan will face just two opponents this season (Towson and Howard), who reached the 2021 NCAA Volleyball Tournament. The Lady Bears will face the crosstown rival Towson Tigers on Sept. 4 at 1 p.m. in the finale of the Towson Invitational in Towson, Md. Morgan will square off against its MEAC rival, Howard twice this season on each other's home floor. The two will first meet on Oct. 7 in Washington, D.C. and will conclude their regular season series on Oct. 28 in Baltimore for Morgan's Dig Pink match.
 
LOOKING TO STAY UNBEATEN: Morgan State will look to add to its perfect record and remain unbeaten against fellow MEAC member South Carolina State. The Lady Bears enter this season with a 25-0 all-time record against the Lady Bulldogs. Morgan State and SC State will first meet on Sunday, Sept. 25 in Baltimore, before facing each other again on Sunday, Oct. 23 in Orangeburg, S.C.
 
TOURNAMENT EXPOSURE: The Lady Bears will take part in four regular season tournaments this year. Following the Charlotte Invitational (Aug. 26-27), Morgan State will make the short trip to Towson, Md. to compete in the Towson Invitational (Sept. 2-4) against Princeton, Radford, Rutgers and Towson. Next will be a trip to Ohio for the Cleveland State/Akron Tournament (Sept. 9-10). Morgan State will take on Valparaiso in the opener on Friday at 11 a.m. at the University of Akron and will meet co-host Cleveland State that evening at 6 p.m. the Lady Bears will travel back to Akron on Saturday to face the host Zips at 12 p.m. Morgan State will close out its non-conference slate in Fairfax, Va. for the George Mason Invitational (Sept. 16-17). MSU will meet fellow MEAC foe Maryland Eastern Shore on Friday at 4:30 p.m. The contest will not count toward the MEAC standings. The Lady Bears will close out the weekend with an 11 a.m. contest on Saturday against New Hampshire, before taking on host George Mason at 6 p.m. in the finale.
 
EIGHT NAMED TO MEAC ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM: Morgan State had eight players named to the MEAC Volleyball All-Academic Team during the 2020-21 school year. Six of the eight recognized (Melanie Battle, Londyn Coles, Gabriela Hiciano, Tyasia McDuffie, Jourdan Page and Alyssa Sampson) return for the 2022 season.
 
MORGAN EARNS THIRD STRAIGHT USMC/AVCA ACADEMIC AWARD: The Morgan volleyball program was honored as a recipient of the United States Marine Corps and the American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award for the 2021-22 academic year. The Lady Bears had a team GPA of 3.35. It marked the third consecutive year, as well as the third time in program history that Morgan State has earned the award. Last season Morgan posted a GPA of 3.62 and totaled a 3.48 GPA when it first earned the award for the 2019-20 academic year.
 
WELCOME TO THE CAVE: Morgan State welcomes the addition of two newcomers to the 2022 squad, one freshmen, Jaydn Perkins (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and one junior transfer in Mikah McIntosh (Miami, Fla.).
 
SAYING GOODBYE: Morgan State will say goodbye to its lone senior, Melanie Battle prior to its home finale 'Senior Night' match against rival Coppin State (11/11). The match will also be the Lady Bears' regular season finale.
 
2022 MEAC CHAMPIONSHIP: This year's MEAC Volleyball Championship will take place November 18-20 in Dover, Del. at Memorial Hall on the campus of Delaware State University.