Live Stats: Morgan State vs. Le Moyne | Morgan State vs. Manhattan | Morgan State at Penn
ESPN +: Morgan State at Penn (9/14) 

BALTIMORE, Md. (Sept. 12, 2024)--Fresh off its first win of the season on Tuesday against Bowie State, the Morgan State volleyball team will head to Philadelphia to compete in this weekend's Sonesta Philadelphia Rittenhouse Square Penn Invitational (Sept. 13-14) hosted by the University of Pennsylvania. Morgan State will open the tournament against Le Moyne on Friday at 4 p.m. The Bears will then face Manhattan on Saturday at 2 p.m., before closing out the day against host Penn at 5 p.m. The Penn contest will air live on ESPN +.
 
MORGAN AGAINST THE FIELD: Morgan State is meeting Le Moyne for the first time…The Bears hold a 1-0 series lead over Manhattan. The two met for the first time last season in the finale of the Columbia Tournament (9/9/23), a 3-1 win by the Bears…Morgan State and Penn will meet for the first time.
 
NEXT UP: The Bears will continue their regular season tournament play when they travel to Fairfax, Va. to compete in the Patriot Invite (Sept. 19-21), hosted by George Mason. Morgan State will take on the host Patriots in the opener on Thursday, Sept. 19 at 6 p.m. On Friday, the Bears will face Gardner-Webb at 4 p.m., before closing out the tournament on Saturday against Fairleigh Dickinson at 1 p.m.
  
LAST SERVE: Morgan State (1-7) secured its first win of the season, following a 3-0 victory over Bowie State on Tuesday morning at Hill Field House. Addison Metts hit. 333 and finished with a match-high 12 kills to go with seven digs and two service aces, as Morgan State improved to 4-0 against Bowie State. Madison Grace tallied seven kills and Mikaela Esparza finished with 12 digs. Erin Carpenter finished with 14 assists and Mya Karrick totaled 12 assists.
 
TRACKING WILLIAMS: Jada Williams recorded an assisted block against UNC Asheville (9/7) to give her 119 career blocks and move her past former Lady Bear, Dinah Jones (118 from 2012-15) for 16th-place on the career charts.
 
WILLIAMS NAMED TO WEST GEORGIA TOURNAMENT TEAM: Sophomore middle blocker Jada Williams was named to the University of West Georgia All-Tournament Team. The Fredericksburg, Va. native totaled 20 kills, 13 blocks, a dig and a service ace in three matches in Carrollton, Ga. Williams began the week with a team-high six kills to go with a match-high five assisted blocks and had a dig in the opener against Georgia State (9/6). Later that day she totaled seven kills, matched a career-high seven blocks, including one solo and had a dig in a five-set thriller against host West Georgia. In the tournament finale, Williams recorded seven kills, a service ace and had an assisted block against UNC Asheville (9/7) to give her 119 career blocks to move past former Lady Bear, Dinah Jones (118 from 2012-15) for 16^th-place on the career charts.
 
BLOCK PARTY: Morgan State has out blocked six of its first eight opponents to start the season. Last weekend during the West Georgia Tournament, Morgan State held a 9.0-3.0 blocking advantage over Georgia State and out blocked host West Georgia (11.0-9.0). Morgan would be even with UNC Asheville (3.0-3.0). The Bears began the season out blocking its first three opponents. The Bears held a blocking advantage over Lehigh (9.0-8.0), Duquesne (10.0-6.0) and Saint Francis-Pa. (13.0-3.0), before being out blocked itself, by rival Towson (5.0-11.0) in the finale of the Morgan/Towson Invitational (Aug. 30-Sept. 1).
 
WELCOME BACK: Junior Madison Grace made her anticipated return to the Morgan lineup during last week's Morgan/Towson Invitational and totaled seven kills and a dig in the season opener against Lehigh (8/30). It was her first action after missing the entire 2023 season due to an injury. Grace would total 21 kills, a dig, an ace and four blocks including two solo during in four matches over the weekend.
 
OPENING SERVE: Morgan State fell to 9-23 in season openers since the 1993 season, following last week's season opening loss at home to Lehigh (8/30). The 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).
 
FOLLOW THE BEARS ON TWTTER: Morgan volleyball fans can follow the 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.
 
MORGAN PICKED SEVENTH IN MEAC: Morgan State was picked to finish seventh this season 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 Bears were also picked to finish seventh.
  
BEARS EARN 2023-24 AVCA TEAM ACADEMIC AWARD: The Morgan State volleyball team was honored in July as a recipient of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award sponsored by INTENT for the 2023-24 season. It marked the fourth time in program history and the first since the 2021-22 season the Bears have earned this award. Morgan State posted a team GPA of 3.477 for the 2023-24 academic year.
   
WILLIAMS NAMED TO ALL-MEAC ROOKIE TEAM: Sophomore Jada Williams was named to the MEAC All-Rookie Team last season. It was the first All-MEAC volleyball honor for Morgan State since teammate Madison Grace was named to the 2021 MEAC All-Rookie Team. Williams also became the first All-MEAC selection under head coach Xiomara Ortiz. A native of Fredericksburg, Va., Williams finished the regular season leading the Bears in blocks with 93, which ranked second in the MEAC. Her total also tied for seventh on the Morgan State single season charts and ranks 19thall-time at Morgan. Williams, averaged 1.07 kills and 1.04 blocks per set, concluded the regular season with 95 kills, 43 digs, 18 service aces, eight assists and twice recorded a match-high seven blocks against Manhattan and Maryland Eastern Shore.
 
SOMEONE NEW: Morgan State will square off against four first-time opponents this season. The Bears will take on Georgia State and host West Georgia on Day 1 of the West Georgia Tournament (9/16) and will meet both Le Moyne (9/13) and host Penn (9/14) in the Penn Invitational.
 
LOOKING TO STAY UNBEATEN: Morgan State will look to add to its perfect record and remain unbeaten against non-conference foes Bowie State, Gardner-Webb, Manhattan and fellow MEAC member South Carolina State. Last season the Bears met Division II Bowie State for the first time since the 1991 campaign and improved to 3-0 against the Bulldogs. The two will meet again this season for Education Day on Sept. 10…Morgan State holds a 2-0 advantage over Gardner-Webb. The two last met in the Spartan Spiketacular in Greensboro (9/18/10), a five-set win by the Bears…The two will met in the Patriot Invite hosted by George Mason (9/20/)…The Bears and Manhattan met last season for the first time in the Columbia Tournament (9/9/23), which Morgan would win in four sets. Morgan State and the Jaspers will meet in this year's Penn Invitational (9/14)…The Bears also enter this season with a 29-0 all-time record against the Lady Bulldogs of South Carolina State. Morgan State and S.C. State will first meet on Sunday, Oct. 6 in Baltimore, Md., before facing each other again on Sunday, Nov. 3 in Orangeburg, S.C.
 
TOURNAMENT EXPOSURE: The Bears will again take part in four regular season tournaments this year. Following the Morgan/Towson Invitational (Aug. 30-Sept. 1) against Lehigh, Duquesne, Saint Francis-Pa. and Towson, the Bears will head to Carrollton, Ga., to face Georgia State, host West Georgia and UNC Asheville for the West Georgia Tournament (Sept. 6-7). Next will be a trip to Philadelphia, Pa. for the Penn Invitational (Sept. 13-14) against Le Moyne, Manhattan and host Penn. Morgan will conclude its tournament action with a trip to Fairfax, Va. to compete in the Patriot Invite (Sept. 19-21) hosted by George Mason. The Bears will take on host George Mason in the opener and will face Gardner-Webb and Fairleigh Dickinson.                                                         
 
SEVEN NAMED TO MEAC ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM: Morgan State had seven players (Erin Carpenter, Trinity Carruthers, Gabriela Hiciano, Justyus Jackson, Jourdan Page, Alyssa Sampsonand Ellis Spencer) named to the MEAC Volleyball All-Academic Team during the 2023-24 school year. Three of the seven recognized, Erin Carpenter, Trinity Carruthers and Ellis Spencer return for the 2024 season.
 
WELCOME TO THE CAVE: Morgan State welcomes the addition of nine newcomers to the 2024 squad, four transfers: Hannah Chappelle(Cedar Hill, Texas), Addison Metts (Hobart, Ind.), Daniela Ferreira (Lisbon, Portugal) and Mikaela Esparza (Chandler, Ariz.), along with five freshmen in Aubrey Wilson (Fayetteville, Ga.), Selah Brashear(Severn, Md.), Paula Sigurani (Woodbridge, Va.), Jordan Williams (Birmingham, Ala.) and Piper Newton (Leawood, Kan.)
 
2024 MEAC CHAMPIONSHIP: This year's MEAC Volleyball Championship will take place November 21-24 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.