Dover, Del. (Mar. 18, 2021) --- Delaware State took MEAC North leader Coppin State to the limit, but ran out of gas in a 3-2 loss in Memorial Hall Thursday evening. The Hornets won the first set 25-23, but fell behind in the match after the Eagles took set two 25-22 and the third set 25-23. DSU stayed alive in the contest with a 25-21 victory in the fourth set to force a deciding fifth game.
Coppin State took the fifth set 15-11 to win its sixth straight match and improve 7-4 overall and 6-1 in the MEAC North.
The loss snapped a three-match win streak for the Hornets, who fell to 7-3 overall and 3-2 in division play.
Coppin's Paola Caten led all players with 19 kills and was second on the team with 16 digs in the contest.
Freshman Valeria Otero had a career night for the Hornets, recording a personal high with 16 kills on 49 attacks (.224). She was also second on the team with 17 digs, also a career-high.
Alondra Maldonado (fr.) also contributed a career-best 13 kills, while Mayah Ngundam (sr.) tallied 12 kills and topped all players with five blocks (one solo) in the match for DSU.    
The Hornets extended their streak of consecutive set wins to 10 with their victory in the opening set. DSU recorded 17 kills and posted a .325 attack percentage in set one. Maldonado and Ngundam led the way with four kills each in the first set.
Otero had five kills and Maldonado four in the second set, but the Hornets were plagued by seven errors in the set.
Delaware State led by six points on three occasions in the third set before Coppin State rallied from behind. The Hornets led 11-5 early in the set and opened by a 17-11 advantage after an error by the Eagles. CSU answered with a 9-3 run, and evened the set at 20. The score was tied again at 22, but the Eagles scored three of the last four points to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
The fourth set was tied 10-10 before Delaware State took control. The Hornets scored eight of the next 11 points, and pulled ahead 18-13 on a kill by Otero off a feed from Jasmal Cruz. Coppin cut the deficit to two later in the set, but Ngundam scored on a block and sealed the victory for the Hornets with a kill off a feed from Jelena Dukic to even the match at 2-2.
Coppin State scored six consecutive points after the fifth set was tied 4-4 and never looked back.
Cruz led Delaware State with a season-high 20 digs, while Kristi Gomez (16) and Alayna Lacy (12) also recorded personal bests in digs.
The Hornets posted a .229 hitting percentage in the match, tallying 60 kills and 20 errors on 175 attacks. Coppin State had 63 winners and 29 errors on 179 attempts for a .190 attack percentage in the contest.
Delaware State will try to avenge the loss and post its first win of the season against the Eagles (0-2) when the teams meet again on Friday evening at Coppin State.