WASHINGTON, D.C. – On the opening day of the D.C. Challenge, the Howard volleyball team swept George Mason (25-18, 25-20, 25-21) on Friday evening for its first win of the 2016 season.
Junior outside hitters Khaila Donaldson and Jessica Young led the team with nine kills apiece, while sophomore middle blocker Olubunmi Okunade tallied eight kills and three blocks.
Sophomore setter Tamia Dockery recorded a team-high 33 assists to go along with six digs and five blocks. Senior libero Morgan Marlbrough added 17 digs.
Mason's Jordan Glass notched a game-high 12 kills while Kelly Schaller had 39 helpers.
The first set went back and forth until the Bison began to pull away after stringing together five straight points to take a 19-15 lead and force Mason to burn a timeout. Howard continued to put the pressure on the Patriots to extend the advantage to 23-18. Dockery and senior Whitney Fields closed out the set with a block, 25-18.
After exchanging points, the Patriots called for time as the Bison went ahead 13-7 on six consecutive tallies. Howard refused to let Mason back in the set, getting out to a 20-14 advantage that had the Patriots using its second timeout. However, Mason pulled within three, 22-19, making it the Bison's turn to head to the sideline. A pair of attack errors by the Patriots put the Bison up 24-20 and Young laid down the kill to take the set, 25-10.
Mason jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead to start the third set. The Bison came back to knot the score at 12-12, punctuated by a trio of kills from Young. Howard capitalized on three attacking errors by the Patriots and a solo block from sophomore Courtney Dalton to go up 17-13. Mason took its final timeout after Dockery and Fields joined together for the rejection to push the lead to 22-19. Once again, Young came up with the final kill for the Bison to end the set, 25-21, and take the match.
The Bison are back on the court tomorrow at 11 a.m. to face Georgetown. Howard will conclude the tournament against American at 4:30 p.m. Both matches will be held at George Mason in the Recreation and Athletic Complex.
