2025 MEAC Bracket | MSU MEAC Championship History

BALTIMORE, Md. (Nov. 18, 2025)--The Morgan State volleyball team will begin their quest for the program's fifth Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) championship this Thursday, Nov. 20 when they take on Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) at 8 p.m. at the Physical Education Complex on the Coppin State campus.
 
The Bears enter the 2025 MEAC Volleyball Championship as the No. 3 seed, while the Hawks are the No. 6 seed. It's the highest seed for Morgan State since 2019, when that team earned the No. 2 seed and advanced to the title match.
 
Thursday night's match will be the eighth meeting between the two schools in the MEAC volleyball tournament with Morgan State holding a 4-3 advantage. The two teams last met during the 2004 MEAC semifinal round, a 3-2 win by the Hawks.
 
The Bears (11-13, 8-6 MEAC) this season recorded their most overall wins and league victories since the 2019 campaign, when that squad finished with 18 wins and went 10-5 in the MEAC.
 
Morgan State enters the MEAC Volleyball championship having dropped its final two matches to end the regular season. The Bears are coming off being swept by crosstown rival Coppin State on the road in the regular season finale (11/14).
 
Daniela Ferreira finished with eight kills, while Jada Williams and Aubrey Wilson each added six to lead Morgan State. Tameary Wardlaw had a team-high eight digs and Mya Karrick totaled a match-high 19 assists.
 
The Bears held a 6.0-4.0 advantage over Coppin in blocks. Wilson led Morgan with a match-high three blocks, including a solo to give her 144 for her career and move her past Arianna Hayden (143 from 2012-15) for 16^th place on the Morgan State charts.
 
UMES (10-17, 7-7 MEAC) dropped three of its final four matches to conclude the regular season, including a 3-0 loss at home to Delaware State in the finale (11/14).
 
Karielys Melendez led the Hawks with 10 kills and Nkemjika Ikemefuna added eight. Valeria Matias recorded a match-best 10 digs and Kate-Linh Eden finished with 20 assists.
 
SERIES NOTES: Morgan State leads the all-time series, 46-33 over Maryland Eastern Shore. The two split the season series each winning on their home floor. Morgan State won the first meeting, 3-1 in Baltimore (10/12) for its homecoming. UMES defeated Morgan 3-1 in Princess Anne, Md. (11/9). The Bears also hold a 4-3 lead over the Hawks in the MEAC Championship.
 
NEXT UP: The Morgan State-UMES winner will advance to the semifinal round on Friday, Nov. 21 at 8 p.m. and will face the winner of No. 2 Howard-No. 7 Norfolk State.
 
2025 MEAC CHAMPIONSHIP: This year's MEAC Volleyball Championship will take place November 20-22 in Baltimore at the Physical Education Complex on the campus of Coppin State University.
 
SAYING GOODBYE: Morgan State said goodbye to its four seniors (Hannah Chappelle, Mikaela Esparza, Daniela Ferreira and Hanna Nemeth), who all played in their final home contest at Hill Field House on Wednesday evening (Nov. 6) when the Bears defeated defending champion Delaware State in five sets. The four seniors were honored prior to the start of the match.
 
WILLIAMS RECORDS CAREER-HIGH 10 BLOCKS: Junior middle blocker Jada Williams set a career-high 10 blocks at Maryland Eastern Shore (11/9). The 10 blocks surpassed Williams' previous high of nine blocks, which set recorded twice last season as a sophomore against Maryland Eastern Shore (9/27) and at Coppin State (10/18).
 
TOP OF THE CLASS: Jada Williams enters this weekend leading the MEAC in hitting percentage with .324. Williams also ranks sixth in blocks (0.74) and 10th in service aces (0.36)…Freshman setter Isabelle Brown is third in assists (7.07), while junior setter Mya Karrick is fifth in service aces with 0.39 per set. Sophomore Aubrey Wilson ranks ninth in hitting percentage (.234). Senior Daniela Ferreira ranks sixth in the MEAC in kills per set (2.92) and is sixth in points (262.5). Senior Hanna Nemeth ranks 10th in kills per set (2.36).
 
PROTECTING THE HOUSE: Morgan State wrapped up the 2025 home slate with a five-set victory over Delaware State (Nov. 6) to give the Bears an 8-3 record at Hill Field House. The eight wins are the most at home since 2019 when Morgan finished 9-3 at home that season. The Bears began the home schedule winning their first two contests for the first time since the 2020 campaign (which was played in Spring of 2021 due to Covid-19). Morgan later put together a string of four consecutive victories.
 
WILLIAMS FIFTH ON BLOCKS LIST: Jada Williams entered the season ranked 10th all-time at Morgan State with 212 career blocks. Williams recorded a career-high 10 blocks at Maryland Eastern Shore (11/9) to give her 284 for her career. A native of Fredericksburg, Va., Williams recorded a season-best 118 total blocks a year ago and ranks fifth on the career charts.
 
TRACKING KARRICK: Junior setter Mya Karrick enters today's match with 847 assists for her career and is now 153 assists shy of reaching the 1,000-assists club at Morgan State. Last season Karrick recorded a season-best 524 assists. 
 
WILSON REACHES 100 CAREER BLOCKS: Sophomore middle hitter Aubrey Wilson recorded her 100th career block in Saturday's contest against host Alabama A&M (9/6). A native of Fayetteville, Ga., Wilson's second block of the first set, gave her 100 for her career. She would finish the match with three blocks. Wilson, who recorded 96 total blocks last season, currently has 45 this season and 141 for her career, to rank 17th on the Morgan State charts. Wilson is now five blocks shy of passing Arianna Hayden (143 from 2012-15) for 16th place.
 
FERREIRA REACHES 1,000 CAREER KILLS: Senior Daniela Ferreira reached the 1,000-kills plateau for her collegiate career on the road at Howard. Ferreira, who finished with a match-high 23 kills, reached the mark on her 17th kill of the match. A native of Lisbon, Portugal, Ferreira totaled 570 of her kills in two seasons at Odessa College. She currently has 1,133 career kills.
 
MORGAN STARTS 2-0 AT HOME: The Bears began the 2025 home slate with back-to-back 3-1 victories over Quinnipiac and Stonehill in the Morgan/Towson Invitational (9/5). It's the first time Morgan State started a season 2-0 at home since the 2020 campaign (which was played in Spring of 2021 due to Covid-19), when Morgan won its first three home contests. That season the Bears coming off a tough five-set road loss at Temple in the season opener, returned to Hill Field House and swept George Washington in the home opener, before knocking off Howard in three sets. Their third win would also come against Howard in five sets.
 
BROWN EARNS MEAC SETTER OF THE WEEK: Morgan State freshman setter Isabelle Brown was named Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Setter of the Week (9/2). A native of Avon, Ind., Brown directed the Bears' offense, collecting 107 assists (9.73 per set), while adding 17 digs, five kills, four service aces, and three blocks in three matches. Brown recorded 31 assists, four digs, and a service ace, while hitting .400 with two kills in her Morgan State debut in the season opener against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Against host Alabama A&M, she finished with 27 assists, four digs, and picked up her first collegiate block. Brown concluded the weekend collecting a new season-high 49 assists, while adding nine digs, three kills, three service aces, and two blocks, all season-highs in a five-set thriller against Southern.
 
WELCOME HOME COACH PRESTON: Former Lady Bear standout and current University of New Orleans (UNO) head coach, Ashley Preston will return to Hill Field House this Friday when she guides her Privateers against Kent State on the opening day of the Morgan/Towson Invitational. It will be Preston's first time coaching inside Hill Field House since 2016 when she was the head coach at nearby Coppin State. Preston, who is in her fifth year at the helm of UNO, was a four-year starter for Morgan from 2004-07 and led the team in digs all four seasons. She ended her career as the program's all-time leader in digs with 2,066, which also ranks second all-time in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) history. A 2008 graduate of Morgan State, Preston was inducted into the Morgan State Hall of Fame in 2023.
 
BROWN NAMED TO BETTY AUSTIN TOURNAMENT TEAM: Isabelle Brown was named to the 2025 Betty Austin Invitational All-Tournament Team (8/30). Brown totaled 107 assists, 17 digs, five kills, four service aces and three blocks in the three matches played. In her Morgan State debut, she recorded 31 assists, four digs, and a service ace, while hitting .400 with two kills in a sweep of Arkansas-Pine Bluff. A native of Avon, Ind., Brown finished the tournament collecting a new season-high 49 assists, while adding nine digs, three kills, three service aces and two blocks, all season-highs.
 
OPENING SERVE: Morgan State improved to 10-23 in season openers since the 1993 season, following last week's season opening 3-0 win against Arkansas-Pine Bluff (8/29). It was the Bears' first opening day victory since 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 SIXTH IN MEAC: Morgan State was picked to finish sixth 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 picked to finish seventh for a third consecutive year.
 
LOOKING TO STAY UNBEATEN: Morgan will look to add to its perfect record and remain unbeaten against Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) opponents, when the Bears take on Arkansas-Pine Bluff, host Alabama A&M and Southern in the Betty Austin Invitational (Aug. 29-30) in Huntsville, Ala. to open the season. In fact, the Bears enter this weekend a perfect 10-0 when facing a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). Morgan State's all-time matches against recent SWAC newcomers Bethune-Cookman and Florida A&M were all played when the two programs were still members of the MEAC.
 
FERREIRA, WILLIAMS NAMED AS LEADERS: Senior Daniela Ferreira and junior Jada Williams have been named as this season's leadership council. A native of Lisbon, Portugal, Ferreira enters her second season with the Bears. A year ago, she ranked 7^th in the MEAC in points, 9^th in kills per set and 10^th in hitting percentage and was named to the All-MEAC Tournament Team and the All-MEAC second team. Ferreira would lead Morgan in kills (305) and digs (206) last season and earned the team's MVP award. Williams, who enters her third season at Morgan State, was named to the 2024 All-MEAC first team after leading the MEAC in blocks with 118, while ranking 7^th in hitting percentage (.256). A native of Fredericksburg, Va., she finished her sophomore campaign ranked 98^th in the nation in blocks per set (2.29) and currently ranks 10^th all-time on the Morgan charts with 212 career blocks. Williams would receive the team's most improved award.
 
BLUE IT IS: Morgan State wrapped up its 2025 preseason camp on Friday, Aug. 21 with its annual Orange & Blue Scrimmage at Hill Field House. Team Blue would claim bragging rights with a 3-0 victory.
 
SWEET HOME ALABAMA: Morgan State sophomore opposite hitter/middle blocker Jordan Williams returned to her home state of Alabama last weekend when the Bears traveled to Huntsville for the Betty Austin Invitational. Williams is a native of Birmingham and attended Clay-Chalkville High School.
 
TOURNAMENT EXPOSURE: The Bears will take part in three regular season tournaments this year. Following this weekend's Betty Austin Invitational, the Bears will head home to co-host the Morgan/Towson Invitational (Sept. 5-6) against Quinnipiac, Stonehill and Quinnipiac. Morgan State will then conclude its regular season tournament action with a trip to Fairfax, Va. to compete in its first contest in the Battle of the Beltway (Sept. 12-14). The Bears will return home on Day 2 to host Georgetown, before concluding the weekend on Day 3 on the road at George Washington in Washington, D.C.
 
ESPARZA IN BOTSWANA: Senior Libero Mikaela Esparza represented Morgan State and the MEAC this summer participating in the second annual Ditsala International Cup in Botswana. The premier women's volleyball tournament brought together collegiate student-athletes from the United States with national teams from across Southern Africa. Esparza, who was playing on the HBCU Team, would spend six days in Botswana taking part in clinics, training sessions, community engagement and got to experience safaris and explore Southern Africa. On the court, Esparza and the HBCU team would go undefeated, highlighted by a thrilling gold medal match against Bring It Promotions, whose roster featured players from predominately white institutions.
 
SOMEONE NEW: Morgan State will square off against just one first-time opponent this season, when the Bears host Stonehill (9/5) in the Morgan/Towson Invitational.
  
WELCOME TO THE CAVE: Morgan State welcomes the addition of nine newcomers to the 2025 squad, three transfers: Jenae Mason (Durham, N.C.), Hanna Nemeth (Budapest, Hungary) and Mele Taumoepeau (Laie, Hawaii) along with five freshmen in Isabelle Brown (Avon, Ind.), Chloe Scott (Webster, N.Y.), Zayda Thomas (Land O Lakes, Fla.), Tameary Wardlaw (Sunrise, Pa.) and Viktoria Zelubouski (Malvern, Pa.).
  
BEARS EARN 2024-25 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 2024-25 season. It marked the second consecutive year and the fifth time in program history the Bears have earned this award.
 
FERREIRA NAMED TO MEAC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Daniela Ferreira was named to the All-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Tournament Team. Ferreira became the first all-tournament team selection under head coach Xiomara Ortiz and the first Bear player since Zoe McBride and Tylar Roberson were named in 2019. A native of Lisbon, Portugal, Ferreira finished with a career- and match-high 21 digs and tied teammate Madison Grace with a match-high 18 kills to record a double-double in Morgan's thrilling five-set quarterfinal loss to defending champion Coppin State (11/22). It was the fourth double-double of the season for Ferreira, who also tallied a match-high three service aces and had two assisted blocks.
 
BLOCK PARTY: Last season the Bears out blocked 20 of their 29 opponents. Morgan State would lead the MEAC and finished the 2024 campaign ranked 95th in the nation among NCAA Division I teams in blocks with 260.5. Jada Williams also led the MEAC in blocks with 118.
 
LET'S GO FIVE: Last season Morgan State played in 10 five-set matches, following its 3-2 loss to Coppin State in the quarterfinal round of the MEAC Tournament (11/22). Earlier in the season the Bears played in back-to-back five-set contests during the Penn Invitational (9/13-14). Morgan lost to Le Moyne in five sets in the opener (9/13), then turned around the next day and earned a reverse sweep of Manhattan (9/14) for its first five-set win of the season. 
2024 Five-Set Matches
At West Georgia (9/6), L 2-3
Vs. Le Moyne (9/13), L 2-3
Vs. Manhattan (9/14), W 3-2
Vs. Gardner-Webb (9/20), W 3-2
Maryland Eastern Shore (9/27), L 2-3
Norfolk State (10/13), L 2-3
At Maryland Eastern Shore (10/25), L 2-3
Delaware State (10/27), L 2-3
At North Carolina Central (11/1), L 2-3
Vs. Coppin State (11/22), L 2-3
 
 
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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.