AKRON, Ohio (Sept. 10, 2022)—Teagan Ochaya recorded a double-double, finishing with 13 kills and 14 digs, both match highs, to lead host Akron to a 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-11) victory over Morgan State in the finale of the Akron Invitational on Saturday afternoon at James Rhodes Arena. It was the first meeting between the two programs.
The Zips, who improved to 3-6 on the season, tallied 38 kills in the contest and had an attack percentage of .277. Faith Johnson added nine kills and Baylee Vought collected 19 assists. Jayda Young recorded four assisted blocks to help Akron hold a 6.0-5.0 blocking advantage over the Lady Bears.
Morgan State (0-10) was led offensively by
Jourdan Page, who finished with nine kills and added three digs and an assisted block.
Makila Billingsley had seven kills and an assisted block.
Mackenzie Jefferson notched 18 assists and six digs, while
Alyssa Sampson led Morgan with 11 digs.
Melanie Battle had three combined blocks, including a solo to go with four kills.
The Lady Bears finished with 26 kills, but were hindered by 19 attack errors for a hitting percentage of .075. Morgan State also struggled with its serving, as it committed 12 serving errors.
Akron scored the first five points in the opening set and led by as much as 10 points (15-5), following a kill by Ochaya. Morgan State went on a 5-0 run to pull within four points (20-16), capped off by an assisted block by Page and Battle. However, Morgan could not get the deficit under four points and would fall 25-19.
Set 2 was competitive throughout, as there were six lead chances and 15 score ties. Morgan State had its largest lead of the set at 19-16 on a kill from Page. Akron would bounce back to take a 22-21 lead, before Page evened the score at 22 all with a kill. The Zips would score the final three points for the 25-22 victory.
Akron used an 13-3 run in the third set to increase its advantage to 21-9. The Zips scored four of the last six points for the 25-11 victory. Akron finished Set 3 recording 13 kills and hit a set-best .455 hitting percentage. Morgan State was limited to four kills in the set.
Morgan State will travel to Washington, D.C. to visit American in a non-conference contest on Wednesday, Sept. 14. First serve is at 7 p.m. at Bender Arena.
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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.
