BALTIMORE, Md. (September 4, 2026)--The Morgan State Lady Bears earned their first victory of the 2026 season with a home opening win on Friday evening, defeating Saint Peter's 3-1 (25-23, 11-25, 25-21, 25-17) at Hill Field House.
With the win, Morgan State (1-3) avenged last season's 3-1 loss to Saint Peter's in Jersey City, N.J. The Bears victory also ended a six-match losing skid dating back to last season.
Playing in front of the home crowd, the Bears started the match strong, hitting for a set best .355 with 17 kills to hold on to a 25-23 victory. Saint Peter's (0-5) responded with a 25-11 win in Set 2, while hitting a set-high .381 with 12 kills to even the match at 1-1.
After splitting the opening two sets and recording just six kills and hitting .042, both set lows in the second set, the Bears regained their momentum and control in Set 3, earning a 25-21 come-from-behind victory. The Bears recorded 13 kills and hit .286, compared to the Peacocks, who despite recording 15 kills, hit .186.
Morgan State carried that momentum into the fourth set, holding Saint Peter's to a -0.03 hitting percentage, while securing the 25-17 victory.
Morgan State finished the night with 46 kills on 117 attacks while hitting .231 as a team. The Lady Bears recorded 35 assists, seven service aces and held a 9.0-0.0 advantage in blocks.
Senior
Jada Williams finished with a match-high 13 kills, eight digs and four blocks, including a solo block, while fellow senior
Michaela Panekova added 12 kills.
Tre'Niya Miller totaled a match-high five blocks, including two solo to go with three kills.
Aubrey Wilson added seven kills while hitting .455, and
Tyrah Weems contributed six kills along with two blocks.
Isabelle Brown was particularly efficient offensively, recording five kills on just seven attempts for a match-high .714 hitting percentage. Brown also finished with 31 assists, two service aces and one solo block.
Saint Peter's was paced by Markela Tsagkopoulou, who finished with 10 kills, while Karolina T. Rodriguez Mendez added eight kills on a team-high .538 hitting percentage, three assists, two aces and three digs. Victoria Pruvost also added eight kills. Alondra Fargas and Meleksu Ozmen split the setter duties, finishing with 19 and 16, respectively.
The Bears will continue their season opening weekend on Saturday, Sept. 5, when they host nearby Loyola University Maryland in a battle of Cold Spring Lanes at 4 p.m. at Hill Field House. The Greyhounds (0-3) are coming off a 3-1 loss in its home opener on Friday to Towson.
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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.
