BALTIMORE, Md. (Sept. 11, 2022)—The Morgan State volleyball team will head to the Nation's Capital this Wednesday, Sept. 14 to take on the American Eagles. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. at Bender Arena in Washington, D.C. It will be the 11^th consecutive contest away from home for the Lady Bears to start the season.
 
SERIES NOTES: Wednesday's match will mark the 30^th meeting between the two programs. American holds a 29-0 all-time series lead over the Lady Bears. The two last met on Oct. 17, 2018 in Baltimore with the Eagles claiming a 3-0 victory. Morgan State last visited American on Sept. 5, 2017, also a 3-0 win by American.
 
NEXT UP:Morgan State will close out its 2022 non-conference slate this weekend in Fairfax, Va., when it competes in the George Mason Invitational (Sept. 16-17). It will be the fourth and final preseason tournament for the Lady Bears this season. MSU will open against fellow Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) foe, Maryland Eastern Shore on Friday at 4:30 p.m. The contest will not count towards the MEAC standings. On Saturday, the Lady Bears will face New Hampshire at 11 a.m., before closing out the weekend against host George Mason at 6 p.m.
 
LAST WHISTLE: Morgan State dropped three matches last weekend at the Akron Invitational (Sept. 9-10) in Akron, Ohio. The Lady Bears dropped the opener against Valparaiso in three sets, before pushing to four sets in a loss at co-host Cleveland State. Morgan wrapped up the tournament falling in three sets at host Akron.
 
BLOCK PARTY: Freshman Jadyn Perkins totaled a season-high and match-best eight combined blocks, including a solo block against Radford (9/2) at the Towson Invitational. The Pittsburgh, Pa. native would total 11 blocks during the weekend. Perkins currently ranks second on the team with 15 blocks, behind Justyus Jackson, who has a team-best 17 blocks with three solos.
 
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 the 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).
 
ROAD WARRIORS: Morgan State will begin the season playing its first 14 contests, all of which are non-conference, away from Hill Field House. Morgan State won't play in front of the home crowd until Sept. 23 when it welcomes North Carolina Central for the MEAC and home opener.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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 Invitational.
 
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 Invitational (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.


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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.