DURHAM, N.C. (Sept. 29, 2023)--The Morgan State volleyball team was two points away in Set 2 from taking a 2-0 lead on the road at North Carolina Central (NCCU) on Friday evening. And suddenly just like that, all the momentum the Bears had built had shifted in favor of the host Eagles.
 
NCCU would go on to score six unanswered points and eight of the final nine to snatch away a 26-24 victory and even the match at a set apiece. From there the Eagles would go on to prevail in five sets after knocking off Morgan 15-9 in the decisive set.
 
The 3-2 (25-16, 24-26, 25-19, 17-25, 9-15) Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) win at McDougald-McLendon Arena, would be the fifth straight for NCCU over Morgan State in the series' eight meetings and ended a season-long eight-match losing skid. With the win, the Eagles improved to 2-10, 1-2 in the MEAC, while Morgan State fell to 5-13, 0-3 in the MEAC and has dropped three straight.
 
Kamren Harper recorded a match-high 16 kills, while hitting .367 for the match and Emmie Modlin added 11 kills in the win. Loren Johnson collected a match-high 23 digs and had a match-best four service aces. Bella Dearinger tallied a match-high 42 assists for the Eagles.
 
Morgan State was paced by Makila Billingsley, who had a team-leading 14 kills and Tyrah Weems added 12. Erin Carpenter finished with 25 assists and Trinity Carruthers had 15. Gabriela Hiciano led the Bears with 18 digs and Alyssa Sampson added 13. Ainara Fernandes had a match-high four service aces to go with her nine kills and eight digs. Jada Williams and Billingsley each recorded six assisted blocks to help Morgan State hold a 9.5-8.0 advantage over NCCU in blocks. With her performance, Billingsley reached 100 career blocks, giving her 103 during her three years at Morgan State.  
 
How It Happened
Set 1
Morgan State scored the first four points and jumped out to a quick 13-3 advantage. The Eagles responded with an 8-2 run to pull with 15-11 and force a Morgan State timeout. The Bears would score for straight in part of a 5-1 run to extend their lead to 22-14 with Weems recording three kills during the run. Morgan closed out the set with a kill from Fernandes, followed by a serving ace by Sampson for the 25-16 victory. Morgan State would hit .300 as a team in the opening set with a set-high 13 kills, while the Eagles were limited to an attack percentage of .033 and had a set low eight kills.
 
Set 2
Morgan State again jumped out in front on the Eagles, this time taking a 6-0 lead. NCCU again would not fold, using a 10-4 spurt to even the score at 10 all. The Bears scored the next six points to increase their advantage to 16-10. The host Eagles would get within three points twice, the last coming at 20-17. Morgan took a 23-18 lead on a ball handling error on NCCU and appeared to be on its way to a 2-0 set lead. But the Eagles had other plans, as they would hold Morgan to just one more point, while closing out the set on an 8-1 run. NCCU scored six straight to take the lead at 24-23. The guests evened the score at 24 apiece on a kill by Fernandes. An attack error on the Bears gave NCCU a 25-24 lead and Amarah Johnson recorded a kill to give the Eagles the 26-24 victory.
 
Set 3
Morgan stayed true and scored the first three points of the third set. The Eagles responded with three straight of their own to even the score. Morgan State trailed 13-12, before scoring three straight points to trigger a 6-2 run and take am 18-15 advantage, following a kill by Billingsley. The Bears held a 21-19 lead when they closed out scoring four consecutive points for the 25-19 victory to take a 2-1 lead. Both teams finished the set with 11 kills. However, Morgan hit for .321 and had just two attack errors, while the host Eagles had 10 errors and hit a set low .028.
 
Set 4
Morgan State trailed 8-4 and pulled within 16-15 on a ball handling error on NCCU. The Eagles countered with five straight points to take a 21-15 advantage. The Bears got a kill from Williams and Sampson got an ace to bring the Bears within 21-17. That would be the final points of the set for Morgan, as the Eagles ended the contest with four consecutive points to force a fifth and decisive set.
 
Set 5
NCCU capped off a 9-3 run with five straight points to start the final set and take a 9-3 lead. Morgan tried to get back in the contest, using a 5-2 spurt capped off by Williams and Billingsley teaming up for an assisted block to cut the NCCU lead to 11-8. That would be as close as the guests would get, as the Eagles used a 4-1 run, including an ace by Jeslyn Spencer (nine kills, nine digs, three aces) to solidify the win for NCCU.
 
Next Up: Morgan State will now travel to Orangeburg, S.C. to take on the South Carolina State Bulldogs on Sunday, Oct. 1 at 1 p.m. at Dukes Gymnasium. S.C. State (0-16, 0-3 MEAC) is coming off a 3-0 loss at home on Friday to Coppin State.
 
The Bulldogs, who have won just one set this season, enter Sunday's Morgan State contest riding a 115-match losing skid, including 62 straight MEAC losses. S.C. State's last victory was a 3-0 road win at Savannah State on Sept. 28, 2018. It was also the program's last MEAC win.
 
 
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 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.