BALTIMORE, Md. (July 14, 2023)--Second-year Morgan State head volleyball coach Xiomara Ortiz has announced the upcoming volleyball schedule for the 2023 campaign.
 
The 29-match schedule features 14 homes contests, four tournaments, as well as the return of two in-state foes to the docket. The traditional Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) home-and-away slate will consist of 14 matchups.
 
The MEAC Volleyball Championship Tournament will be held in Dover, Del. on Nov. 17-19 at Memorial Hall on the Delaware State campus.

"I believe our schedule will move us in the right direction this year," said Ortiz. "I think there is a good balance of challenge while also giving us the potential for solid success and creating the confidence we need for conference play. I'm excited to host more matches in Hill Field House this year, so that Morgan fans can be apart of our growing experience."
 
The Lady Bears kick off the season on the road when they travel to Blacksburg, Va. to compete in the Virginia Tech Invitational (August 25-26). Morgan State will face host Virginia Tech in the opener, followed by matches against Furman and Quinnipiac.
 
The following week Morgan State will return home to co-host the Morgan/Towson Tournament (Aug. 31-Sept. 2). Morgan opens up the four-day tournament against co-host Towson before battling Dartmouth, FDU (formerly Fairleigh Dickinson), Rider and Temple. All five of Morgan's contests will be played at Hill Field House.
 
Next up for MSU is a trip to New York to participate in the Columbia Tournament (Sept. 8-9). The Lady Bears will face Rutgers in the opener, before taking on host Columbia and Manhattan.
 
The Lady Bears will return home to face local foe Notre Dame of Maryland (Sept. 13). It will be the eighth overall meeting and the first between the two programs since prior to the 1990 season (records are unavailable). The Gators will be the first of two reunion contests for Morgan State against an in-state foe.
 
Morgan will wrap up its preseason tournament slate with a trip back to New York for two matches in the Cornell/Syracuse Tournament (Sept. 15-16). The Lady Bears will first visit Cornell in Ithaca, N.Y., before traveling to Syracuse, N.Y. to face co-host Syracuse.
 
The Orange and Blue will close out the non-conference portion of the schedule when it welcomes Bowie State to Hill Field House on Sept. 19 for Education Day. The 11 a.m, matchup will be the third all-time meeting and will end a 32-year hiatus between the two Maryland schools, who last squared off twice during the 1991 campaign.
 
The 2023 MEAC slate gets underway on the road in Princess Anne, Md. on Sept. 22 against the Hawks of Maryland Eastern Shore.
 
Two days later Morgan State will open it MEAC home slate when its hosts defending MEAC Champion Delaware State (Sept. 24).
 
The Lady Bears will take to the road to face North Carolina Central in Durham, N.C. (Sept. 29) before heading to Orangeburg, S.C. to take on South Carolina State (Oct. 1).
 
Morgan returns home for its annual Homecoming contest when it battles 2022 regular season co-champion and Beltway rival Howard (Oct. 6), before heading to Virginia's Tidewater area to take on Norfolk State (Oct. 8).
 
MSU will close out the first half of the conference schedule against crosstown rival Coppin State at Hill Field House (Oct. 13). The Eagles shared the 2022 regular season title with Howard. 
 
The Lady Bears begin the second half of league play at home when they welcome Maryland Eastern Shore (Oct. 20), before visiting Delaware State in Dover, Del. (Oct. 22).
 
North Carolina Central (Oct. 27) and South Carolina State (Oct. 29) will make their way to Hill Field House, before the Lady Bears travel to the Nation's Capital to face Howard (Nov. 3).
 
Morgan State concludes its home schedule with a match against Norfolk State (Nov. 5) for Senior Day and will close out the regular season at Coppin State (Nov. 10).
 
This year's MEAC Championship Tournament will be held at Delaware State's Memorial Hall in Dover, Del. (Nov. 17-19).
 
 
FOLLOW MORGAN STATE ATHLETICS IN CYBERSPACE 
There are many ways to keep up with MSU athletics online and on the go:
• Visit www.morganstatebears.com, the official web site of Bears athletics, for news, schedules, stats, bios and more. 
• Follow us on social media:
 Facebook: /MorganStateBears
 Twitter: @MorganStBears
 Instagram: /MorganStateBears

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.