Dover, Del. (Mar. 22, 2021) --- Delaware State freshman Valerio Otero led all players with 15 kills and Kristi Gomez matched the MEAC season-high with six service aces to highlight the Hornets' 3-1 MEAC North victory over Howard in Memorial Hall this season.
DSU cruised to a 25-16 win in the first set, but the Bison evened the match with a 26-24 victory in set two. The Hornets won the third set 25-18 to lead 2-1 and posted a hard-fought 27-25 victory in set four to defeat the Bison for the third time in three matches this season.
Otero recorded a .394 attack percentage in the contest, tallying her 15 kills on 33 attacks.
Alondra Maldonado (fr.) was second on the Hornets with 12 kills, while Mayah Ngundam (sr.) had 10 kills and tied for match-high honors with four blocks. Earlier Monday, Ngundam was selected as the MEAC's Co-Player of the Week.
The six aces by Gomez matched her career best and ties for the MEAC high in a four-set match this season. She shares the four-set high for aces in a match with Jaida Bynum of Norfolk State.
Gomez also holds the MEAC season-high for aces in a five-set match with six in the season opener at Old Dominion on Jan. 24. She's currently a close second for the MEAC lead in aces at 0.74 per set, although she leads the league in total aces with 31. Edie Brewer of North Carolina A&T is the conference leader at  0.75 aces per set.
As a team, Delaware State is tied with Coppin State for the MEAC high with 95 service aces this season. (0.95 per set).
Otero and Maldonado had three kills each and Gomez delivered two aces to lead DSU to the first set victory.
Gomez recorded three more aces in the second set, but it was not enough to keep the Bison from squeaking out the set win.
In the third set, Maldonado had five kills on five attacks, while the Hornets recorded a .324 attack percentage to regain the lead in the match.
Otero had six kills on 11 attempts, while Ngundam and Gomez tallied four each to lead the way in the fourth set.
DSU's Jasmal Cruz led all players with 18 digs, while Sydney Lewis also contributed four blocks in the contest.
Delaware State totaled 56 kills and 15 errors on 129 attacks for a .318 percentage in the match, its third best mark of the season.
Howard recorded a .200 hitting percentage in the contest, posting 49 kills and 24 errors on 125 attempts.   
The Hornets improved to 8-4 overall and 4-3 in the MEAC with the win. Howard fell to 3-10 and 2-9.
Delaware State will play its final home match of the season on Thursday (Mar. 25) against Morgan State. Start time is 6:00 p.m.
The Hornets will close out the regular season on the road at Morgan State on Mar. 26 and Howard on the 28^th.