Morgan State University Athletics

ATHENS, Ohio (Sept. 18, 2026)--Morgan State closed out the opening day of the Bobcat Invitational with a 3-0 loss (26-24, 25-23, 25-22) to Mercyhurst on Friday afternoon at the Convocation Center.
 
Morgan State fell to 1-11 on the season, while the Lakers improved to 4-7. It was the first meeting between the two programs.
 
Aubrey Wilson hit a match-high .778, recording a team-high eight kills on nine attempts and a solo block to lead the Bears. Isabelle Brown recorded her second double-double of the season, finishing with a match-high 26 assists and a match-high 10 digs, while adding three digs and hitting .600.
 
Tre'Niya Miller, Nathalia Morais and Michaela Panekova (five digs) all finished with six kills. Defensively, Tameary Wardlaw and Bailey Swinton each had six digs, while Kira Devrieze totaled five. Newcomer Azra Arslanoglu made her anticipated Morgan State debut when she started the second set and finished with five kills, five blocks, two assists and a solo block.
 
The Bears out played Mercyhurst in nearly every category yet were unable to secure the victory. Morgan State held the advantage in kills (39-36), assists (36-32) and digs (39-38).
 
Mercyhurst held a 7-2 cushion over Morgan State in service aces. Each team recorded 6.0 blocks apiece. Miller led Morgan State with three blocks. Ava Carney led the Lakers with a match-high five blocks, including two solo.
 
Trailing 16-15 in the opening set, the Bears appeared to gain control of the match when a 4-0 run put them ahead 19-16. But the Lakers responded with a 4-0 run of their own to reclaim the lead at 20-19. The teams traded mini runs back-and-forth, as Morgan went up 21-20, then Mercyhurst went up 24-22. An ace by Swinton evened the score at 24 all, but a Morgan service error, followed by an ace gave Mercyhurst the 26-24 victory.
 
The Bears recorded a set-high 16 kills but hurt themselves with eight attack errors. The Lakers had 10 kills and four errors.
 
Set 2 was much of the same, as Morgan State jumped out to a 17-11 lead. The Bears held a 23-20 advantage, only to watch Mercyhurst score the next five points to snatch victory away. Despite hitting .053 with 13 kills and 11 errors, the Lakers managed to find a way to win. Morgan hit .111 with eight kills and five errors in the set.
 
The third set was tightly contested, as the Bears broke a 9-9 score with a 3-0 run to take a 12-9 lead. A kill by Morais gave the Morgan State a 17-14 lead, before the Lakers went on a 6-1 run, scoring four straight points to take a 20-18 lead. After another kill from Morais, cut the deficit to 20-19, Mercyhurst rattled off four straight point to take a 24-19 lead. Morgan continued to show no quit, as it scored three consecutive points, capped off with a kill from Wilson. Julia Shepherd ended the match with a kill to give the Lakers the 25-22 win.
 
Morgan State finished the final set with 15 kills and seven attack errors for a .216 hitting percentage. Mercyhurst had its best hitting percentage of the match, recording 13 kills and four errors for an attack percentage of .281.
 
The Lakers were led by Shepherd's 11 kills and Carney finished with nine. Alyssa Krause finished with 19 assists.
 
The Bears will conclude the tournament with a single game on Saturday, Sept. 19, when they take on UNC Asheville at 11 a.m.
 
 
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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.