Morgan State University Athletics

ATHENS, Ohio (Sept. 18, 2026)--The Morgan State volleyball team traveled to Southeastern Ohio to face host Ohio University in the opening match of the Bobcat Invitational on Friday morning. The Bears would give the Bobcats all they could handle in their home opener, before eventually falling to Ohio, 3-1 (27-25, 19-25, 20-25, 19-25) at the Convocation Center.
 
Playing in their final tournament of the preseason, Isabelle Brown got the Bears started in the opening set with a service ace to begin what would be a competitive set and entertaining match. The host Bobcats would score five straight points to take a 6-3 lead. The two teams would then play through 10 ties, until the visiting Bears broke a 16-16 tie with three consecutive points in part of a 5-1 spurt to take a 21-17 advantage.
 
The Bobcats (5-4) were not going to go away, as they put together five straight points to reclaim the lead at 22-21. A kill by Michaela Panekova evened the score at 22 all, but the hosts scored the next two points to take a 24-22 lead. Morgan regrouped and used a mini 3-0 run to take a 25-24 lead, following a set error on the Bobcats. A kill by Bailey Blair, evened the score at 25, before the Bears' scored the last two points courtesy of back-to-back errors by Ohio to claim the opening set, 27-25.  
 
Morgan State (1-9) won the opening set recording a set-low attack percentage of .148 with eight kills, despite Ohio accounting for 17 kills in the set. However, 10 attack errors by the Bobcats, who hit .159, would do them in.
 
In Set 2, Ohio again held a 6-3 advantage. But unlike the opening set, this time the Bobcats would not relinquish the lead. Morgan State did pull within a point at 7-6, but Ohio would score the next four points to trigger an 8-3 run to extend its lead to 16-9. Morgan State made another push, scoring four straight points to pull within 16-13. The Bobcats ended Morgan's run, scoring three consecutive points to take a 19-13 lead and were able to hold on for the 25-19 win.
 
Despite the loss, Morgan State played its best set of the match, recording a high of 10 kills and hitting a set-best .269. The Bobcats hit .300 in Set 2 and totaled 15 kills, while lowering their attack errors down from 10 in the first set to six.
 
The Bears faced a 13-7 deficit in the third set but would again turn up the intensity and clawed back into the set. A 4-0 run by Morgan State brought the Bears within a point at 14-13. The Bears kept it close, trailing only by a point when Brown picked up an ace to cut Ohio's lead to 19-18. However, back-to-back kills put the Bobcats ahead 21-18. Ohio then scored the final three points to earn the 25-20 victory and take a 2-1 lead.
 
Morgan State collected just seven kills in Set 3 and hit .227 as a team. The Bobcats finished with a set-high 18 kills and had an attack percentage of .452.
 
Ohio closed out the match recording its set total of the match, hitting .560 with 16 kills and committing just two attack errors in the fourth set. Morgan State
 
The Bobcats began creating some distance when they used a 4-0 spurt to increase their lead to 16-10. The Bears continued to fight though and used a 4-1 run to pull within 22-18 after a kill by Jenea Mason. But that would be as close as the Bears would get.
 
Morgan State finished the match hitting .214 as a team with 33 kills and nine service aces. The Bears would hold a 4.0-1.0 advantage over Ohio in blocks with Miller leading the way with a match-high two solo blocks.
 
Jada Williams, Aubrey Wilson and Panekova all recorded a team-high six kills, while Tre'Niya Miller hit .556 and added five kills. Brown finished with a match high 25 assists, a match-high eight digs and tied Panekova for the team-lead with three service aces.
 
Morgan State returns to action this afternoon when it takes on Mercyhurst at 4:30 p.m. to close out Day 1 of tournament play. It will be the first meeting between the two programs.
 
 
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ABOUT MORGAN
Morgan State University, founded in 1867, is a Carnegie-classified high research (R2) institution offering more than 150 baccalaureate, master's degree, doctorate and certificate programs. 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.