WASHINGTON, D.C. - Junior Laisha Davis (Riviera Beach, Fla.) collected 11 kills Sunday afternoon as the Delaware State University volleyball team was unable to make a comeback and lost, 3-1 (31-29, 19-25, 9-25, 26-28) to Howard University at Burr Gymnasium.

The Hornets (3-18, 2-6 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) held a 15-10 lead over the Lady Bison (5-20, 4-4 MEAC) in set one before HU rallied to go up, 23-20.  With Howard up, 25-24, Jasmine King posted a service error to tie things up.  The two teams exchanged points and the lead changed hands five times before consecutive kills from Davis gave DSU a 31-29 win.

In set two, the Bison went up, 11-5 and never looked back.  Del State came within two at 10-12, but Howard went on a 9-1 run to lead, 21-11.  Kills from senior Jessica Barnes (Alpharetta, Ga.) and Davis in addition to two attack errors from Tosin Elebute pulled the Hornets within 18-24 to force a HU timeout.  Coming out of the timeout, Elebute recorded another error but countered with a kill to give the Lady Bison a 25-19 victory.

Howard took a 13-1 run and a .650 attack percentage to close out Del State, 25-8, in set three.  The set saw a -.095 attack percentage from the Hornets, including six errors to just one for the Lady Bison.

Set four saw numerous lead changes similar to set one.  A kill from sophomore Jessica Croucher (Brisbane, Australia) and attack error from Kelley Butler gave DSU their largest lead of the set at 16-11.  Three consecutive kills from Elebute turned the tides for Howard and gave them a 23-21 lead to force a Del State timeout.  Four kills from Davis tied things at 25-25.  An attack error from Elebute gave the Hornets a 26-25 lead but HU responded with a 3-0 run to win, 28-26.

Croucher collected a game-high 16 digs while junior Bel Fakaosi (Salt Lake City, Utah) contributed a team-high 24 assists.

Del State returns home to host Coppin State at 7 p.m. on Friday.

---DSU VB---