Dover, Del. (Oct. 25, 2015) --- The Delaware State volleyball team was tied with MEAC North leader Howard at one set each, but dropped the last two sets in a 3-1 loss in Memorial Hall this afternoon.

The Bison won the first set 25-12, but the Hornets bounced back to take set two 25-23. Howard pulled ahead with a 25-17 win in the third set, and claimed the match with a 25-11 victory in set four.

Khaila Donaldson led Howard with 15 kills, while teammates Courtney Dalton and Katherine Broussard had 14 each to lead the Bison. HU's Tamia Dockery led all players with 29 assists.

Jasmine Jackson led Delaware State with nine kills.

In the first set, Howard scored nine of the first 10 points en route to the win. The Bison posted a .522 hitting percentage in the opening set, tallying 14 kills and just two errors om 23 attacks.

The second set was tied 10-10 before Delaware State won five of the next six points to take control.  Jackson started the DSU run with a kill and a Bison error gave the Hornets a 15-11 lead. The score was 18-18 when DSU's Nevershi Ellis recorded a kill and service ace on back-to-back plays to give the Hornets a 20-18 lead.  Howard fought back to tie the second set at 23-23, but a kill by Jenessa Helu and a Bison  error gave Delaware State the win to even the match.

Delaware State head coach Whitney Johnson says she was pleased with her team's consistency in the second set. "We did everything the way we were supposed to, which made it easier for our defense in the second set," she said. "It makes it easier when everybody is doing their job and performing well as we did in the second set. Now we have to do that in all of our sets."

There were seven ties in the third set before Howard pulled away. Delaware State held its last lead in the set 12-11 on a kill by Jackson off a feed from Marisol Arredondo. Howard scored nine of the last 11 points to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

The Bison used nine and five-point runs in the fourth set to claim the match win.

Howard had a .310 hitting percentage, compared to .009 for DSU in the match.

The Bison recorded 54 digs, led by Morgan Marlborough's match-high 17. Delaware State tallied 36 digs. Ayanna Lee led the Hornets with 13.

Howard was credited with 22 blocks. Janaya Hampton had seven blocks, including two solos, to lead the Bison.

The Hornets recorded 15 blocks. Jenessa Helu led the team with four.   

Howard improved to 12-13 overall and 8-1 in the MEAC, while the Hornets fell to 2-19 and 0-5.

Delaware State will return to action next Friday (Oct. 30) at Coppin State. The match begins at 7 p.m. in Baltimore, Md. DSU's next home match is Sunday Nov. 1 against Morgan State ( 2 p.m.).