Dover, Del. (Mar. 15, 2021) --- Delaware State's string of consecutive shutouts is now at three after a 3-0 victory over Morgan State in a MEAC North contest in Memorial Hall this evening. The scores were 26-24, 27-25 and 25-18.
The Hornets won their third straight match and seventh in the last eight to improve to 7-2 overall and 3-1 in the MEAC. DSU and Morgan State were tied for second in the division at 2-1 entering the contest. Coppin State leads the North at 5-1.
The Hornets will battle Coppin State in back-to-back contests this week, beginning Thursday (Mar. 18) at DSU. The teams will also face off on Friday in Baltimore, Md.  
The top two teams in the MEAC's Northern and Southern divisions will qualify for the conference championship tournament Apr. 2-3 in Norfolk, Va.
Delaware State has recorded three straight sweeps for the first time since shutting out Morgan State, Coppin State and Hampton in 2009. The Hornets last posted four consecutive shutouts during a string of five in a row in 1991. DSU also swept Morgan State for the first time since 2010.
Senior Mayah Ngundam had a season-high 13 kills, while freshman Valeria Otero also tallied 13 to lead the Hornets in tonight match. Ngundam also recorded a season-best .556 attack percentage. Her previous high this season was .538 vs. Norfolk State.
Otero also contributed six digs and three service aces to the win.
Delaware State posted eight aces in the contest. Kristi Gomez tied Otero for match-high honors with three aces. The Hornets were tops in the MEAC in aces at 2.46 per set entering tonight's match.
Jelena Dukic (sr.) had a team-best 26 assists, her high for the season, and was also second on the club with eight digs.
DSU's Jasmal Cruz (so.) led all players in the match with 15 digs.
Delaware State was a point away from defeat in each of the first two sets, but performed well under pressure.
In the first set, the Hornets trailed 24-23, but Otero posted a kill off a feed from Alayna Lacy to tie the score.  After a Morgan State error put DSU ahead 25-24, Alondra Maldonado delivered the set-winning point with an assist from Cruz.
The Bears were also ahead 24-23 in set two when Otero again evened the score with a winner from Dukic.
The score was 25-25 when Morgan State committed an error to give DSU the lead. Otero scored the winning point in the set, this time on an ace.
Ngundam took control in the third set for the Hornets, collecting six kills on seven attacks.
Delaware State recorded a .295 attack percentage for the match, tallying 49 kills and 16 errors on 112 attacks.
Morgan State had 40 winners and 16 errors on 10 attacks for a .224 percentage.
The Hornets' 7-2 overall record this season is their best after nine matches in team history.