WASHINGTON, DC --- The Howard women's volleyball team played host to the first day of the District of Columbia Classic Saturday afternoon in Burr Gymasium and proceeded to go 1-1 in their two afternoon matches. The Bison earned a 3-1 win over Western Carolina University and were defeated 3-1 by the University of Maryland.

The two-day event Howard is cohosting with Maryland features the Bison, the Terrapins, the Catamounts of WCU, the George Mason Patriots and the Pennsylvania Quakers.

For Howard, it marked the first time under fourth-year head coach Shaun Kupferberg that the Bison hosted a regular season invitational. Also, it marked the first action on the updated Burr Gymnasium floor since it was redone with the department's new logos.

"It was great to be able to host the DC Classic and allow our student-athletes to play some home games during the early part of the season," said Kupferberg. "Playing on our home court also allowed our campus to see more high level volleyball, which is a great way to grow the sport. It was a large event and took the full department's cooperation to pull it off so I also want to thank everyone for all of their hard work."

FAST FACTS - HOWARD VS WCU (W, 23-25, 25-22, 25-18, 26-24)
-    The victory put Howard in the win column for the first time in 2015 and was the Bison's first win since defeating Florida A&M University.in the 2014 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) semifinals last November.
-    A pair of Bison earned double-doubles against Western Carolina: sophomore outside hitter Khaila Donaldson (17 kills, 14 digs) and junior setter Briana Jackson (48 assists, 10 digs).
-    Four different Howard players earned double-digit kills versus the Catamounts: Donaldson, sophomore outside hitter Jasmine Sasser (15 kills), freshman outside hitter Courtney Dalton (13) and junior outside hitter Dominique Cleggett (10).
-    The WCU match set new season-highs for Howard in kills (59), hitting percentage (.198), and assists (54).
-    After dropping the first set, Howard won the match by rattling off three straight set victories.

FAST FACTS - HOWARD VS MARYLAND (L, 14-25, 17-25, 25-19, 17-25)
-    Jackson logged another double-double against the Terrapins (32 assists, 19 digs) to give her two on the season and five for the team overall.
-    Donaldson led all players with 14 kills while Sasser added 11.
-    Junior libero Morgan Marlbrough have a team-best 20 digs while freshman middle blocker Olubunmi Okunade led the Bison in the blocks category with three overall (1 solo, 4 assists).
-    Howard's best sideout percentage of the game came in set three against UMD. The Bison defense converted on 15-of-20 opportunities (75 percent).
-    Although Maryland won their three sets wire-to-wire, Howard showed resilence in taking set three. HU found through five ties and four lead changes to claim the set.

NEXT UP

Howard will continue the DC Classic at the University of Maryland on Sunday, September 6. The Bison will face George Mason for a second time this season at Noon and meet Penn at 5 p.m. Live Stats links can be found on the Volleyball Team Schedule and more information from Maryland can be found HERE.