The Lady Bears’ Ivanti Bush recorded a match-high 21 kills and Rhyan Shy tallied her second consecutive double-double, finishing with 16 kills and 11 digs, however, it wasn’t enough, as the visiting Lady Pirates held off Morgan State, 3-2 (16-25, 16-25, 25-20, 25-23, 15-7) in the MEAC regular season finale on Sunday afternoon at Hill Field House.

With the win, Hampton (6-26, 3-7 MEAC), which prior to this season had never defeated Morgan State in 30 tries, swept the season series and secured the fourth and final spot in the MEAC’s North Division and advanced to the league’s championship in Hampton (Nov. 14-16).

The loss was the Morgan State’s (3-24, 2-8 MEAC) second straight loss and sixth loss in its seven contests.

Hampton was led by Ebonie Vincent and Adriana Vazquez, who each finished with 14 kills. Alyssa Jackson led the way with a team-high 14 digs and Mianna Armstrong tallied 12 digs to go along with her nine kills, while Lihi Elkayam recorded 49 assists.

Morgan State came out fighting, claiming the first two sets by identical 25-16 scores. However, following a 10 minute break between Games 2-3, the Lady Pirates came back rejuvenated. Hampton used a 7-1 run to take an 11-4 lead, before Morgan State countered with a 6-3 spurt to pull within 14-10. The guests would extend their lead to eight (21-13) on a Morgan State attack error, before the Lady Bears would get within 22-18. But unlike its Game 2 victory, this time the deficit would be too much to overcome, as that would be as close as the Lady Bears would get, dropping the set 25-20.

In the fourth set, Morgan State jumped out to a 14-10 advantage and held a 23-19 lead following an attack error by Armstrong of Hampton. The Lady Bears would respond with an attack error of their own and watched the visiting Lady Pirates score six consecutive points for the 25-23 victory, thus eliminating Morgan from an appearance in the MEAC championship for the first-time ever.

Christa Rogers finished with 37 assists and Dina Beamon notched a match-high 17 digs for the Lady Bears. Camille Coleman totaled a match-high six blocks to help Morgan State to a 9-3 advantage over Hampton in blocks.

The Lady Bears close out the season on Tuesday, Nov. 4, when they play host to George Washington in a non-conference match. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Hill Field House.