BALTIMORE, Md. -- Morgan State head volleyball coach Ramona Riley-Bozier has announced the 2015 Lady Bears’ volleyball schedule. This year’s schedule will feature 14 non-conference match-ups, including four regular season tournaments, to go along with the typical 12 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Northern Division contests.
“Honestly, it’s just dawned on me that I’ve put together a schedule for my 28th season,” said Bozier. “How crazy, but blessed is this? To have the opportunity to be able to say, “here is the 2015 schedule” after doing it for 27 years, I don't take it for granted.”
“My goal when scheduling is to take a trip where one of my athletes is from who has made a significant contribution to the program,” said Bozier. “This year’s trip to Chicago, I'm sure will be special for Arianna Hayden, who has performed well for MSU, with last year being one of her best seasons. Going to University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) will be a tournament with decent but not overwhelming competition. This will be the first time the program has visited the Windy City for a tournament.”
“We have three other tournaments, two that are local at the University of Maryland-College Park and the University of Maryland Baltimore County, which will have good competition and an opportunity for us to have more fans in the stands. We finish up at the University of Delaware which is right before conference play. This tournament has mid-level programs, which makes for good competition and will be a good test to see where the team will be prior to the start of conference play.”
The Lady Bears won’t have to go far for their season opener when they travel to College Park, Md. to compete in the University of Maryland Invitational (Aug. 28-29). The Lady Bears will open up against host Maryland, followed by Kent State on the opening day, before closing out the tournament against Duquesne and Hofstra.
Morgan State will next travel to Chicago for the UIC Invitational (Aug. 4-5), where it will battle the host UIC Flames in the opener. Morgan State will close out Day 2 in the ‘Windy City’ against Chicago State and Central Connecticut State.
After returning home for its home opener against Georgetown on Sept. 8 at Hill Field House, Morgan State will return to tournament action when it travels to nearby UMBC for the UMBC Invitational (Sept. 11-12) with matches against UMBC, Rider and Fordham, respectively.
The Lady Bears will close out their final regular season tournament in Newark, Del. at the University of Delaware Invitational (Sept. 18-19). Morgan State will face the host Blue Hens and Sacred Heart on the first day, before closing out against crosstown rival Loyola-Maryland.
The MEAC slate kicks off on the road against defending MEAC champion, Hampton (Sept. 25) and Norfolk State (Sept. 27). The Lady Bears’ MEAC home opener will be against rival Howard on Friday, Oct. 9. This year’s Dig Pink contest for breast cancer awareness will be against the Lady Pirates of Hampton on Oct. 23. The Lady Bears’ Senior Day will take place against Coppin State (Nov. 8). This year’s MEAC Championship will take place Nov. 20-22 at the Physical Education Complex on the campus of Coppin State University.
“This year will be different because we don't open up with Coppin State,” said Bozier in reference to the conference scheduling. “Many have made it (Coppin) a rival school and match, but I just see them as another team we have to play and beat. Instead, we will open up on the road against the defending champions, Hampton. With several coaching changes in the northern division at three institutions to be exact, this should be an interesting season.”
The 2015 volleyball season could be a special one for the Morgan State program and head coach Bozier. With the return of 10 letterwinners, including six seniors, this will be the Lady Bears’ deepest and experienced squad since 2007. That team also had six seniors and advanced to the semifinals of the MEAC championship.
Of the 10 returnees, five are starters in seniors Arianna Hayden, Dinah Jones and Samantha Prescott, who have spent their entire collegiate careers at Morgan State and transfers Evely Macedo and Carmen Fernandez, who joined the Lady Bears last season as juniors.
Last season the Lady Bears finished with a 13-13 overall mark, including a 6-6 conference record, good for fourth in the MEAC Northern Division. During the season the Lady Bears would capture back-to-back regular season tournament titles (Friar Classic and Red Flash Classic) for the first time since 2002 and ended a three-year hiatus of not qualifying for the league tournament. Morgan State, which entered the MEAC tournament as the fourth-seed out of the northern division, would take top-seeded Florida A&M to five sets, before falling in the quarterfinals.