Dover, Del. (Jan. 24, 2021) --- Visiting Delaware State battled back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the match, but came up short in the fifth set of a 3-2 loss to Old Dominion of Conference USA in the Hornets' spring 2021 volleyball opener today.
DSU dropped the first two sets to the Monarchs, 25-21 and 25-19, but rebounded to post a 25-17 victory in set three and evened the match with a 25-18 win in the fourth set to force a deciding fifth game.
In the fifth set, which is won by the first team to 15 points, the Hornets opened up a 7-3 lead on a kill by Erika Lindqvist (r-so.) off a feed from Jenna Peterson (fr.).
After Old Dominion pulled to within a point at 9-8, DSU scored on a kill by Kristi Gomez (jr.) and an error by the Monarchs to stretch its lead to 11-8.
ODU scored the next three points to tie the set at 11-11, but the Hornets pulled ahead again (12-11) on another error by the Monarchs.
Delaware State held its last lead, 13-12, when Jelena Dukic (sr.) fed Valeria Otero (fr.) for a kill.
The Monarchs answered by scoring the last three points to claim the set and match to improve to 2-1 this season.
In Delaware State's third set win, Gomez and Otero and had three kills each, while the Hornets posted a .500 attack percentage in the set (13 kills/2 errors/ 22 attempts).
Otero recorded five winners in the fourth set, while Sydney Lewis (so.) and Alondra Maldonado (fr.)  collected three apiece to help the Hornets force the deciding game.
For the match, Otero was tops for Delaware State with 14 kills (.070 pct). Lewis and Maldonado tied for second on the team with nine each. Lewis posted a .500 hitting percentage on her 14 attacks for the contest. As a freshman in 2019, she was fourth in the MEAC with a .321 percentage.
As a team, the Hornets recorded 54 kills and 29 errors on 132 attempts for a .189 hitting percentage. Old Dominion posted a .205 percentage for the match, collecting 50 kills and 24 miscues on 127 attacks.
Delaware State had more digs in the contest 47-44. Jasmal Crus (so.) was tops on the team with 11. The Hornets tallied 11 total blocks. Senior Mayah Ngundam had nine block assists to lead the way.
DSU will play its spring 2021 home opener in its next match on Jan. 30. Start time is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. in Memorial Hall.