Syracuse, N.Y. (Sep. 13, 2013) --- The Delaware State University volleyball team came up short in two matches on the opening day of the Candlewood Suites Invitational at Syracuse University today. The Hornets (0-4) fell to Chicago State 3-0 in morning action before suffering a 3-0 loss to host Syracuse this evening.

The scores In the Chicago State match were 26-24, 25-22 and 25-16. Jasmine Jackson (so.; South Riding, Va.) led the Hornets for the second straight match with 16 kills. Jackson also had a match high three service acres.

Jessica Croucher (sr.; Brisbane, Aus.) had nine kills and a team-high 11 digs. Natalia Mendieta (so.; Aurora, Ill.) topped the Hornets with 25 assists.

In the first set of the Chicago State match, the Hornets trailed 20-15 before going on an 8-3 run to tie the match. DSU tied the game at 23-23 on a Chicago State error.

Chicago State regained the lead 24-23 before the Hornets tied the game again on a kill by Croucher.

The Cougars scored the last two points of the game to get the win.

In game two, Chicago State led by as many as five points before DSU fought back. The Hornets capped off a 4-0 run with a kill by Jackson to open up a 21-20 lead.

The Cougars (1-8) scored five of the last six points to take the game.

Syracuse defeated the Hornets by scores of 25-12, 25-13 and 25-12.

Croucher led DSU with 10 kills and eight digs. Mendieta had 13 assists and led all players with three aces.

Syracuse posted a .435 attack percentage in the match (36 kills/6 errors/69 attempts), compared to .025 for DSU (23/21/79).

The Hornets will close out the tournament against St. Peter's on Saturday (Sep. 14) at 10:00 a.m.