Dover, Del. (Oct. 1, 2021) ---The Delaware State women's volleyball team extended its school-record win streak to 11 with a hard-fought 3-0 MEAC victory over Maryland-Eastern Shore in front of an energetic crowd in Memorial Hall this evening.  The scores were 25-22, 25-23 and 25-20.
The Hornets improved their overall record to 15-1, the best mark after 16 matches in team history and tops among all MEAC teams. DSU's overall win percentage was tied for third among all NCAA Division I teams entering tonight's match.
Delaware State also stands at 3-0 in the MEAC.
Valeria Otero led a balanced DSU attack with a match-high 12 kills, while Alondra Maldonado added nine and newcomer Karen Cordero, a 2020-21 junior college All-America, had eight winners on 14 attacks for a .500 hitting percentage in the contest.
Delaware State's Malgorzata Andersohn topped all players with 21 assists, while also contributing seven digs and two aces to the win. Andersohn was tops among all NCAA Division I players in aces per set and seventh in total aces entering the match.
Jasmal Cruz had a match-high 12 digs for the Hornets.
Delaware State has won by 3-0 scores nine times and won 33 of 35 sets during the 11-match win streak.
The Hornets have 11 shutout wins and is 46-7 in sets played this year.
In tonight's first set, Delaware State led 8-3 in the early going, but the Hawks battled back to tie the game at 10-10 after an attack error on the Hornets.
The set was also tied at 15, 16, 17 and 18.
The Hornets scored six of the next nine points, and led 24-21 on a kill by Otero off a feed from Jelena Dukic.
DSU scored the winning point in the opening set on a kill by Mayah Ngundam
Maryland-Eastern Shore scored the first four points of the second set, and opened up a 13-9 lead on a kill by Derionah Abner.
The Hornets trailed 15-11 before scoring eight of the next 11 points to pull ahead in the second set.
The rally was capped off by a Maryland-Eastern Shore attack error to give DSU a 20-18 lead.
The Hornets pulled ahead 24-21 on a kill by Otero and won the second set on another error by the Hawks.
Delaware State also fought from behind to win the third set.
Maryland-Eastern Shore started strong in the set, opening up a 10-4 lead on a kill by Charlize Williams.
The Hornets trailed 12-9 before scoring six of the next seven points to lead for the first time in the set since soring the opening point.
Cordero had a kill and an ace to highlight the rally.
Otero poste back-to-back kills to give the Hornets a 19-17 lead in the third set and recorded the match-winning point off an assist from Dukic.
Delaware State had a .198 hitting percentage in the match, recording 45 kills and 23 errors on 111 attacks.
Maryland-Eastern Shore tallied 27 kills and 12 errors on 79 attempts for a .190 hitting percentage.
The Hornets held a 35-33 advantage in digs, while the Hawks totaled 10 blocks to six for DSU.    
Delaware State is also home on Sunday to battle Norfolk State for the second time this season. The Hornets defeated the Spartans 3-0 on Sep. 26 in Norfolk, Va.