BALTIMORE, Md. (August 30, 2024)--The Morgan State volleyball team opened the 2024 season at home on Friday evening, as it welcomed Lehigh to Hill Field House for the opener of the Morgan/Towson Invitational. The visiting Mountain Hawks would earn a 3-1 (25-19, 25-16, 22-25, 25-15) victory over the Bears in the season opener for both teams.
 
Natalie Luscomb hit for a match-high .609 and finished with a match-best 16 kills and Megan Schulte hit .423 and added 15 kills, as the visitors would record 52 kills on 115 attempts for a .278 hitting percentage. Lehigh would record double digit kills in every set, including a best 15 kills on 28 attempts with just four errors for a set-best .393 hitting percentage in the final set to close out the match.
 
Lehigh (1-0) also got a match-high 31 assists from Makena Smith, while Abby Felkai added 12. Kyleigh Brown totaled a match-high 20 digs in the win.
 
Morgan State (0-1) would fall behind 2-0, before putting together its best set of the match. The Bears would record 10 kills on 22 attempts and committed just four errors for a set-best hitting percentage of .273 in the Set 3 victory.
 
The Bears trailed by as much as eight points (16-8) in the third set and were down 21-15, following a kill by Alysia Fingall. Morgan would use a 6-0 spurt to even the score at 21 all. The guests took a 22-21 advantage on a Morgan State service error. However, the Bears closed out the set scoring the next four points, capped off with back-to-back kills by Addison Metts and Jada Williams to give Morgan the Set 3 win.
 
Offensively, Morgan State posted 37 kills on 103 attempts for a .117 hitting percentage. Williams and Daniela Ferreira each had eight kills. Madison Grace, who missed the entire season a year ago, totaled seven kills in her first match back.
 
Mya Karrick was pivotal in setting up plays for the Bears, leading the team with 18 assists.
Erin Carpenter added eight assists. On the defensive side, Ferreira anchored the backline with a team-high 10 digs.
 
Morgan State would out block Lehigh, 9.0-8.0. Ferreira and Aubrey Wilson led the way with a match-high four blocks apiece. Williams would add a combined three blocks. The Mountain Hawks were paced by Olivia Lasee, who tallied a match-best three solo blocks. Emily Stewart had a combined three blocks, including a solo.
 
Tonight's match featured the debut of six new players for Morgan State in Hannah Chappelle, Addison Metts, Daniela Ferreira, Aubrey Wilson, Selah Brashear and Mikaela Esparza.
 
Day 2 of the Morgan/Towson Invitational gets underway on Saturday, August 31, when the Bears take on Duquesne at 1 p.m., followed by their final home match of the tournament against Saint Francis-Pa. at 6 p.m. Both contests will be held at Hill Field House. The Bears will wrap up the tournament on the road on Sunday against co-host Towson at 1 p.m.
 
Lehigh will head across town to Towson to take on Saint Francis-Pa. in a 10 a.m. match, before concluding the tournament against co-host Towson at 6 p.m.
 
 
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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.