WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Howard volleyball team kicked off Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) action with a three-set sweep (25-17, 25-16, 25-17) of Maryland Eastern Shore on Friday night at Burr Gymnasium. The Bison improved to 11-5 (1-0 MEAC), while the Hawks fell to 7-9 (0-1 MEAC).
Junior Khaila Donaldson led the offensive attack for the Bison with 13 kills and sophomore Tamia Dockery dished a match-high 31 assists. On defense, senior Whitney Fields tallied three blocks.
Multiple Bison cemented their place in Howard's record books during the match. Senior Katherine Broussard earned the 1,000th dig of her career on her way to a total of 15 for the night. Classmate Morgan Marlbrough added eight digs, pushing her career total to 1,156 to move to fourth in program history.
As a team, Howard limited UMES to a .082 hitting percentage. None of the Hawks reached double figures in kills or digs. Lucia Babic paced the team with eight kills and nine digs. Ivana Blazevic notched 16 assists and three blocks.
The two teams exchanged points to start the match and tied the score 11 times. The Bison got out to a slight 16-14 edge on kills by senior Dominique Cleggett and junior Jessica Young. Thanks to a service ace from Marlbrough, a kill by Donaldson and a pair of blocks by Fields, Howard forced UMES to call for time as it took a 20-15 lead. The Bison ended the set on a four point rally, which included an ace by rookie Houston Griffin.
Howard led from the first serve in the second set. The Hawks headed to the bench after the Bison went ahead 16-9. The squads traded errors before Fields got the home team back on the right track with a crucial kill. UMES was able to cut Howard's lead to six, 19-13, but two straight errors stifled its rhythm. Donaldson and Dockery posted the last kills of the set to put HU up 2-0 in the match.
The third set began in the Bison's favor on an 8-3 run. UMES fought back with five straight points to take an 11-10 advantage that sent Howard to the sideline. After two ties, the Bison jumped back out front on kills by Fields, Young and Donaldson, which made the Hawks burn a timeout. Howard extended its upper hand to 21-16 and UMES needed to use its final timeout. Out of the break, three errors doomed the Hawks as the Bison completed the sweep.
The Bison continue MEAC play on Sunday, Sept. 25 when they travel to Delaware State. The match is set to begin at 3 p.m.
