LIVE STATS: Clemson | Penn State | Rhode Island
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Howard volleyball team is headed to its final regular season tournament this weekend to wrap up its non-conference schedule at the Penn State Invitational. The Bison face Clemson Friday, Sept. 16 at 5 p.m. before squaring off against No. 20 Penn State and Rhode Island at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., respectively.
The Bison enter the tournament on a five-game winning streak, having defeated Loyola (Md.) on Tuesday and captured the Penn Invitational title last weekend. Junior Khaila Donaldson led the offensive attack with 18 kills on 26 swings for a .615 hitting percentage against Loyola. Sophomore Tamia Dockery added a match-high 27 assists and senior Morgan Marlbrough tallied 14 digs.
As a team, Howard hit .478 against the Greyhounds, which broke the program record for hitting percentage in a game set in 2009 against Morgan State (.402).
Sophomore Olubunmi Okunade ranks 30th in the NCAA DI national standings with 1.41 blocks per set and 18th in total blocks (52). Donaldson stands 35th nationally with 4.72 points/set and 49th on 4.00 kills/set. The figures by both Okunade and Donaldson top the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). Dockery paces the conference with 9.39 assists/set, while Marlbrough checks in second in digs per set (4.45).
Howard leads the league in assists/set (11.25), blocks/set (2.50) and kills/set (12.14). The Bison have also held their opponents to a .142 hitting percentage, which is first in the conference.
Also, Donaldson is just 26 kills away from having 1,000 for her career.
Clemson (4-5) went 1-2 at its Clemson Classic last weekend. The Tigers are led by Leah Perri, who currently ranks 12th in the nation in kills (170), 13th in points (195.5) and 15th in attacks (440).
No. 20 Penn State (5-3) won its last three games to claim the Syracuse Classic title. The Nittany Lions are 2-0 all-time against Howard. The two teams last met in the first round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament, where the Nittany Lions took a 3-0 victory to advance.
Rhode Island (4-5) is coming off a 1-2 weekend. The Rams swept Stony Brook before they fell to San Diego State and Notre Dame. Audrey Castro is in charge of the offensive attack with 3.88 kills/set while Olivia Budinich paces the defense with 3.03 digs/set.
