Weekly Notes | Preseason All-MEAC Honors

NORFOLK, Va., Aug. 26, 2019 – The 2019 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) volleyball season begins this weekend, with all 11 member institutions competing in 35 non-conference matches.
 
Four-time defending MEAC champion Howard will begin the season at home on Friday, squaring off against Hartford in Burr Gymnasium as part of the D.C. Challenge. The Bison will also have contests this weekend at American and back home against George Washington.
 
Howard was named the preseason favorite to win the Northern Division again this season, and the Bison will kick off a non-conference slate that sees them take on such teams in 2019 as Maryland, Columbia, Villanova, USC, Ole Miss and Georgetown.
 
Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman were co-favorites in the Southern Division, both teams earning 88 points in the preseason poll. FAMU, in its second season under head coach Gokhan Yilmaz, boasts Preseason Player of the Year Maria Yvette Garcia and will open 2019 in Montgomery, Ala. this weekend in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge.
 
Bethune-Cookman will be in Houston, Texas for the Houston Baptist Barcelona Sports Classic, in a tournament field that includes Houston Baptist, Texas Rio Grande Valley and Radford.
 
Other season openers this weekend include Coppin State (Delaware Classic), Delaware State (MEAC/SWAC Challenge), Maryland Eastern Shore (St. Francis Brooklyn Tournament), Morgan State (Morgan/Towson Challenge), Norfolk State (home-and-home against Hampton), North Carolina A&T State (Winthrop tournament), North Carolina Central (Spartan-Demon Deacon Classic) and South Carolina State (MEAC/SWAC Challenge).
 
There will be two new head coaches roaming the sidelines in the MEAC this season; Dr. Bruce Atkinson takes over at Delaware State and Kathy Bullock will bring almost two decades’ worth of experience – including a decade at North Carolina A&T State – to the bench at Norfolk State.
 
Conference play will begin on Friday, Sept. 27, with 10 of the 11 teams in action. While the conference is still split into divisions, and the top four teams in each division will still qualify for the 2019 MEAC Championship, this season will see each conference program play every MEAC school in league play; in-division opponents will play home-and-homes, while out-of-division foes will play once.
 
The 2019 MEAC Volleyball Championship will be held Nov. 20-22 at Howard University in Washington, D.C.
 
 
Friday, Aug. 30
Delaware State vs. Texas Southern, 10 a.m.
Florida A&M vs. Alabama A&M , 11 a.m.
Howard vs. Hartford, 11 a.m.
Bethune-Cookman at Houston Baptist, 12 p.m.
Maryland E. Shore vs. Central Michigan, 12:30 p.m.
S.C. State at Alabama State, 12:30 p.m.
Seton Hall at Morgan State, 1 p.m.
N.C. A&T State vs. Morehead State, 4 p.m.
Bethune-Cookman vs. Texas Rio Grande Valley, 4:30 p.m.
Coppin State vs. Binghamton, 4:30 p.m.
Delaware State vs. Jackson State, 4:30 p.m.
Howard at American, 5 p.m.
Maryland E. Shore vs. Saint Peter’s, 5:30 p.m.
N.C. Central at UNCG, 6 p.m.
Norfolk State at Hampton, 6 p.m.
S.C. State vs. Alabama A&M, 7 p.m.
William & Mary at Morgan State, 7 p.m.
Florida A&M at Alabama State, 8 p.m.
 
Saturday, Aug. 31
Delaware State vs. Alabama A&M, 10 a.m.
Coppin State vs. West Virginia, 11 a.m.
N.C. Central at Wake Forest, 11 a.m.
Maryland E. Shore vs. NJIT, 11:30 a.m.
Bethune-Cookman vs. Radford, 12 p.m.
S.C. State vs. Jackson State, 12 p.m.
Hampton at Norfolk State, 1 p.m.
Howard at George Washington, 1 p.m.
N.C. A&T State at Winthrop, 1 p.m.
Florida A&M vs. Texas Southern, 1:30 p.m.
N.C. A&T State vs. Davidson, 4 p.m.
Florida A&M vs. Jackson State, 5:30 p.m.
N.C. Central vs. Presbyterian, 5:30 p.m.
Towson at Morgan State, 6:30 p.m.
Coppin State at Delaware, 7 p.m.
Maryland E. Shore at St. Francis (N.Y.), 7 p.m.
 
Sunday, Sept. 1
Siena at Coppin State, 5 p.m.
 
Dates and times are subject to change
 
 
About the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) begins its 49th year of intercollegiate competition heading into the 2019-20 academic school year. Located in Norfolk, Va., the MEAC is made up of 11 outstanding historically black institutions across the Atlantic coastline: Bethune-Cookman University, Coppin State University, Delaware State University, Florida A&M University, Howard University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Morgan State University, Norfolk State University, North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina Central University and South Carolina State University.