Dover, Del. (Oct. 1, 2013) --- The Delaware State University volleyball team started fast, but faltered in the last three sets of a 3-1 loss to Howard in a MEAC North match in Memorial Hall this evening.

The scores were 19-25, 25-14, 25-21 and 25-15.

Edarkis Branch (jr.; Los Angeles, Cal.) and Natalia Mendieta (so.; Aurora, Ill) led the Hornets to their first set win. Branch had six kills on 12 attempts, while Mendieta dished out 12 assists in the opening game. The score was 16-16 before DSU pulled away. The Hornets scored eight of the next 10 points, and opened up a 24-18 lead on a Howard error. Branch had two kills and a block during the spurt.

Howard used an 8-2 spurt and a late 4-0 run to even the match after game two.

Delaware State led 18-12 in game three before Howard stormed back to take a 2-1 lead in the match.. The Bison scored 11 of the next 12 point, keyed by a 9-0 run, to open up a 23-19 lead.  

Howard scored the first four points in the final game and never looked back.

Branch led the Hornets with 11 kills and 11 digs to record her second straight "double-double." Jessica Croucher (sr.; Brisbane, Aus.) had 10 kills and six digs, while Mendieta was tops on the Hornets with 34 assists. Sonya Inderbitzen (sr.; Annandale, Va.) tallied 10 digs for DSU.

Howard had four players with 10-or-more kills, led by Whitney Fields and Katherine Broussard with 14 each. Stephanie Stultis had a match-high 38 assists, in addition to 10 kills and nine digs for the Bison.

The contest was the MEAC North opener for Howard, which improved to 12-5 overall. The Hornets fell to 1-11 and 0-2 in the MEAC.

The Hornets begin a four-game road swing on Sunday at Morgan State. DSU returns home on Oct. 20 against UMES (3:00 p.m.).