BALTIMORE, Md. (September 1, 2023)--The Morgan State volleyball team picked up its first win of the season, following a 3-1 (23-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-19) non-conference victory over Dartmouth on Day 2 of the Morgan/Towson Invitational on Friday evening at Hill Field House. It was the first meeting between the two programs.
 
The Bears improved to 1-4 on the season, while Dartmouth, which opened its season earlier in the day with a hard fought five-set loss to Temple, dropped to 0-2.
 
Friday's win over the Big Green was also Morgan State's first-ever victory over an Ivy League opponent in 10 meetings.
 
"It feels awesome. I think it builds our confidence, and it's the win that we were looking for," said Morgan State head coach Xiomara Ortiz on the first win of the season. "To have ourselves prove that we can win, that we can take any team and know that we can sustain the energy the consistency throughout a match. So, I think it was a really great opportunity for us against this team that was throwing a lot at us. And coming out with a 'W' is an awesome feeling."
 
Despite being held to just eight kills and a hitting percentage of .130 in the opening set, the Bears still had a chance to earn their first set win of the season. Morgan led 22-21, following an attack error on the Big Green. Following a timeout by Dartmouth, the guests would score the next two points to take a 23-22 advantage. A service error by Dartmouth evened the score at 23 all. The Big Green then responded with two consecutive points to claim the 25-23 victory.
 
After dropping the first set, Morgan State would respond to claim the next three sets, totaling 40 kills in the final three sets. The Bears closed out the match by recording a set-high 15 kills in Set 4 on 29 attempts and just three attack errors for a set-best .414 hitting percentage.
 
"This is their first weekend, so we didn't have prior knowledge to them until today. Our strength is serving and defense. So, slowing them down from a system standpoint our serving was awesome it put some pressure on them. And blocking wise really stepped up on shutting down some key players that they had. So that really opened up a lot of range for us offensively."
 
Offensively, Morgan State was led by Makila Billingsley, who tallied a team-high 12 kills, while Justyus Jackson (.529 hitting percentage) and Ainara Fernandes each added 10 kills apiece. Jada Williams hit for a match-high .875, recording seven kills on eight attempts in just two sets played. Mya Karrick tallied 25 assists and hit .750 with three kills on four attempts.
 
As a team the Bears finished with 48 kills on 110 attempts with 17 attack errors and a hitting percentage of .282.
 
Defensively Morgan State finished the match with a season-high 51 digs. Alyssa Sampson totaled a team-high 13 digs and Gabriela Hiciano had 12. Erin Carpenter and Karrick both had seven digs.
 
"Mya did a really great job altogether from serving and defense and distributing the ball the way that we needed to. We wanted to really feed our middles and we found ways to do that. Justyus Jackson was unstoppable today. We know that she's the beast that she is and we just need opportunities to give the ball to her."   
 
Both teams would finish with 10 service aces. Kauany Gutz had a match-best four aces for Dartmouth. Karrick and Sampson led Morgan with three aces each.
 
A day after being out blocked by Towson for the first time this season, the Bears returned to form, out blocking Dartmouth, 13.0-5.0. Jackson led the way with a match-high five combined blocks, including three solo. Billingsley also added three solo blocks and finished with four.
 
Dartmouth was led by Ava Roberts' match-high 14 kills and Natalie Grover finished with 10 kills. Makenzie Arent collected a match-best 28 assists. Piper Stevens had a team-leading eight digs and Gutz and Arent each recorded six digs.
 
Morgan State returns to action on Saturday, Sept. 2, when it plays host to FDU at 1 p.m. The Bears will close out Day 3 against Rider at 6 p.m. Both matches will be played at Hill Field House.

 
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ABOUT MORGAN
Morgan State University, founded in 1867, is a Carnegie-classified doctoral research institution offering more than 100 academic programs leading to degrees from the baccalaureate to the doctorate. As Maryland's Preeminent Public Urban Research University, 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.
 
 
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