Morgan State will play UCLA In NCAA VB Tournament

The Morgan State University "Lady Bears" (26-15, 14-1 MEAC) will return tothe NCAA Division I Volleyball Tournament for the third time in fourseasons. The "Lady Bears" will take on UCLA in the first round of thetournament this weekend in Los Angeles, CA. MSU earned an automatic bidby virtue of their win over Florida A&M in the Mid-Eastern AthleticConference Tournament. Morgan State defeated FAMU 3-0 (15-11,16-14,15-12)to win their fourth overall MEAC Championship.

The NCAA selection committee has bracketed Morgan State in the Mid-Eastregion against the #3 seed Bruins of UCLA (22-7, 14-4 PAC-10). MorganState and UCLA will meet on Saturday, December 2, 2000 at approximately7:00PM pacific time in historic Pauley Pavillion on the campus of UCLA.UCLA is ranked 11th in the country and received an at-large birth to thefield of 64 after completing a third place finish in the Pac-10.

MSU's previous tournament appearances came in 1997 and 1998. In '97 MSUbecame the first historically black institution to receive a tournamentbirth when they traveled to Los Angeles, CA to play the University ofSouthern California. MSU played some spirited volleyball, before fallingto USC 3-0 (15-2,15-7,15-7). In 1998 the "Lady Bears" took on the 3rdranked "Huskers" of the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, Nebraska. MSUfell to Nebraska 3-0 (15-1,15-2,15-0) in front of a sell-out crowd on theUniversity of Nebraska campus.

The road to the NCAA Tournament has been an interesting adventure for MSUthis season. The "Lady Bears' opened the season with a tough schedule andgot off to a slow start. However, once they got a few wins under theirbelt things started to click. They ripped off an all-time high 15 matchwinning streak at mid-season and never looked back.

Morgan State overwhelmed Florida A&M in the MEAC title game with strongserving and great blocking to avenge a loss last season to FAMU in the MEACchampionship match. The "Lady Bears" played magnificient volleyballthroughout the tournament, as MSU never lost a game (9-0) during the threeday MEAC Championships. Four "Lady Bears" earned a spot on the 2000All-MEAC Championship Team. They include; Yolanda McGirt (San Diego,CA/Samuel Morse HS) , Java Johnson (Fresno, CA/Edison HS), Destiny Sisk(Davenport, Iowa.North HS) and Dorothy Buford (Sacramento, CA/Hiram JohnsonHS). Ms. McGirt was named the outstanding player of the tournament as shecollected 32 kills and 24 digs in helping lead MSU back to thechampionship. Java Johnson led the team with 36 tournament kills and 14total blocks. Ms. Buford contributed 33 kills and 22 digs to the cause.Destiny Sisk had a team high .569 hitting percentage during the tournamentwhile collecting 27 kills and recording 13 blocks.

Morgan State put together an awesome run during the tournament. Theydefeated South Carolina State 3-0 (15-3,15-6,15-0) in their first roundmatch on Friday morning. Later in the day they blitzed North Carolina A&T3-0 (15-5,15-5,15-1), before topping it all off with a rousing win overFlorida A&M in the championship match. Morgan State played well invirtually every phase of the game, and got significant contributions fromall over the roster.

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