DOVER, Del. (Oct. 19, 2025)--The Morgan State volleyball team closed out the first half of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) slate on Sunday with a 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 26-24) sweep over defending MEAC champion Delaware State at Memorial Hall.
 
The Bears' (8-9, 5-2 MEAC) eight overall wins are the most since the 2023 team also won eight, while the five MEAC wins are the most since the 2019 season, when Morgan State finished 10-5 in league play and reached the MEAC title match.
 
"It's a great start to conference play for us," said Morgan State head coach Xiomara Ortiz on the Bears' 5-2 MEAC record. "We've had a chip on our shoulder from staff members to athletes and now we are starting to see our hard work pay off."
 
Morgan State's victory also ended a 12-match losing skid to the Hornets. It was Morgan's first victory over Delaware State since a 3-0 win in Dover (11/17/19).
 
"I attribute the movement of our program to our buy in from athletes and staff members," said Ortiz. "We wouldn't be where we are now without their relentless efforts."
 
Hanna Nemeth recorded a match-high 14 kills and hit .542, while Daniela Ferreira added nine kills and Tyrah Weems hit .667 with seven kills. Isabelle Brown fell short of a double-double with 29 assists and nine digs, while Tameary Wardlaw had a match-best 12 digs.
 
Delaware State (7-14, 3-4 MEAC) held a 47-37 advantage over Morgan in kills. But the Bears would take advantage of 21 attack errors, as well as 11 service errors by the Hornets. Morgan State, which had seven errors, hit .349 for the match, while Delaware State hit .228.
 
Morgan State closed out the match hitting .556 with 17 kills in Set 3, both set highs. A kill by Aubrey Wilson gave the guests a 16-13 lead. Delaware State would rattle of five straight to take an 18-16 advantage. Trailing 22-21, the Bears scored the next two points on a kill by Nemeth and an ace by Jada Williams to give Morgan a 23-22 lead. After a kill by Aaliyah Mitchell evened the score at 23 all, Ferreira recorded a kill to but the Bears ahead 24-23. Gerren Tomlin got a kill to even the score at 24-24, but a service error gave Morgan a 25-24 lead. Nemeth would record a kill to end the match and give the Bears the 26-24 set victory.
 
"It's great to bounce back from Friday night's loss. It could've been really easy for the team to lose momentum, which Delaware State was taking advantage of at some points during the match, especially at their home court," said Ortiz. "They targeted some of our key contributors and we had to establish new role players today. We've stepped up competitively and it's great that we can call upon our depth of roster members to contribute when we need them to."
 
Morgan State begins the second half of the MEAC slate on the road when it travels to Norfolk, Va., to face Norfolk State on Friday, Oct. 24. First serve is a 6 p.m. at Gill Gymnasium. The Spartans (1-19, 0-7 MEAC), who were off on Sunday, were dealt a 3-0 loss at Howard on Friday. Norfolk State is in the midst of a seven-match losing skid.
 

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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.