EASTON, Pa. - Seven Delaware State University women's volleyball players recorded career numbers Saturday as the Hornets tabbed their first victory of the season in the Lafayette College Invitational. DSU was slighted, 2-3 (25-23, 23-25, 27-25, 21-25, 13-15) to Fairleigh Dickinson in the first match of the day before taking the 3-0 win (25-14, 25-16, 33-31) over Saint Peter's.
In addition to a double double on Friday against Lafayette, junior Jessica Croucher (Brisbane, Australia) posted two more double doubles on Saturday to be named to the 2012 Lafayette College Invitational All-Tournament Team. Croucher finished the weekend with 48 kills, 39 digs, six aces and four blocks. She tied a career-high of 21 kills and two assists against FDU. The outside hitter marked a .706 attack percentage against Saint Peter's.
Senior Bel Fakaosi (Salt Lake City, Utah) also had a career day Saturday, recording 49 assists against FDU. Her previous high of 47 was set against Coppin State on Nov. 4, 2011. The setter bested her previous high of 12 digs with 17 against the Knights. Fakaosi tallied five aces against SPC, one more than her prior best of four against Coppin State.
Fairleigh Dickinson also fell victim to sophomore Edarkis Branch's (Los Angeles, Calif.) career numbers as she posted 37 total attacks, 14 digs and three blocks. Senior Laisha Davis (Riviera Beach, Fla.) tied career bests of two aces and six blocks against the Knights.
Freshmen Jasmine Jackson (South Riding, Va.), Alena Jung (Kusterdingen, Germany) and Natalia Mendieta (Aurora, Ill.) got in on the career-highs Saturday as well. Jackson posted 12 kills, 40 total attempts, 16 digs and five assists against FDU. Jung collected 23 total attempts, four assists and five blocks against SPC while Mendieta recorded 18 digs and three aces against FDU.
In the first match of the day, the Hornets exhausted themselves in the eventual 2-3 loss to Fairleigh Dickinson. Del State lost the entire match by a combined four points. FDU (3-4) bested the Hornets in kills (62 to 59), attack percentage (.212 to .153), assists (60 to 53) and blocks (20 to 19). DSU recorded 85 digs to 75 for the Knights and nine aces to FDU's five.
After taking the first two set victories over Saint Peter's, the Peacocks (1-6) made things difficult for the Hornets (1-5) in set three, forcing Del State to extra points.
DSU plays in their third regular season tournament next weekend with the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldog Classic. The Hornets take on host GWU Friday at 1 p.m., followed by Charlotte at 4:30 p.m. They wrap up the weekend Saturday against UMKC at 2:30 p.m. Live Stats will be available through www.DSUHornets.com. Video streaming for the DSU-GWU match will also be available through www.DSUHornets.com.
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