Volleyball MEAC Media Relations

LADY BEARS SWEEP LADY EAGLES IN THREE

Esther Johnson recorded a match-high 16 kills and Jeniqua Moran added 14 kills to lead the Lady Bears to their first win of the season, following a 3-0 sweep over Coppin State at the Coppin Center.

The opening game would end in interesting fashion, as the Lady Bears only scored 29 points and were awarded the victory. As if playing Morgan State wasn’t tough enough for the Lady Eagles, they had to deal with the fact that a point which was never played would be awarded to their rivals. With Morgan State leading 28-22, Johnson would record a kill to put the guests up 29-22, but a mistake by the scoreboard and scorekeeper operators, as well as the officials, granted the kill as the 30th point, thus ending the game.

In Game 2, Morgan State (1-12, 1-1 MEAC) recorded 14 kills and had a match-high hitting percentage of .367 and committed only three errors in 30 attempts. The guests held their largest lead of the game at 25-14, before Coppin State battled back to pull within 29-24, following three straight kills by Indira Laurencin. However, an ensuing service error by Laurencin gave Morgan State the win and a two games-to-none advantage.

The Lady Bears, who twice this season have blown 2-0 leads, seemed to be heading down that that path in Game 3, when Coppin State jumped to a 5-1 lead. Morgan State held its composure and broke open a 15-15 tie with a mini 4-0 spurt to take a 19-15 lead. The Lady Bears, who recorded 18 kills in the game, while holding host Coppin State to five kills, increased their lead to 27-20 on a kill by Jentri Fullove, before claiming a 30-21 victory.

Coppin State (1-13, 0-2 MEAC) was led by Laurencin’s team-high nine kills and match-high 13 digs. Kanishia Sheppard and Brittany Arvin each totaled six kills. Lauren Lacey had 13 assists and added five blocks, while Laurencin had a match-high six blocks to lead the Lady Eagles to an 11-3 advantage in blocks.

Ashley Preston finished with a team-high 11 digs and Moran added eight digs and three blocks for the Lady Bears. Fullove collected 37 assists. Dominique Bozier led the team with three service aces and Teneika Fellows had two. The Lady Bears finished the match with a .241 hitting percentage, while Coppin State hit .171 for the match.

Morgan State returns home on Friday, Sept. 28, when its plays host to Howard in a MEAC match at 7 p.m. at Hill Field House.