DOVER, Del. (October 4, 2019) – Howard University women's volleyball team defeated Delaware State (DSU) in straight sets (27-25, 25-22, 25-19) inside Memorial Hall.
 
With the victory, HU (6-11, 3-0 MEAC) remains unbeaten in league play.
 
Senior Kira Porter (Lake Tahoe, Nev.) led the Bison attack, tying a team-high nine kills and seven blocks (two solo). Junior Myca Mitchell (Clovis, Calif.) added nine kills (team-best) and five digs in the win.
 
"We played a solid match against a much improved Delaware State team," said Howard women's volleyball head coach Shaun Kupferberg. "Their style of play caused us some problems early, but our serve receive stabilized and allowed our offense to get rolling."
 
DSU pounced on HU early, but the Bison rallied and pulled within one after a service error by the Hornets, 11-10. Delaware State regained the momentum midway through game one, leading as much as six after back-to-back kills from Anadys Valentin, 19-13.
 
Down, but not out, Howard fought their way back and capitalized on multiple DSU hitting errors. After the Hornets tied set one at 25, HU won the next two points with a kill by freshman Tamar Wells (Apopka, Fla.) and hitting error, 27-25.
 
Game two saw Delaware State jump out to an early lead again, but the Bison clawed their way back and grabbed the upper hand midway. Both squads were deadlocked at 11 until Howard scored six consecutive points to pull away and take a commanding 2-0 advantage in the contest.
 
DSU battled in set three, but the Bison would be too much as they controlled nearly throughout.
 
Freshmen setters Semira Blair (Fort Worth, Texas) and Kayla Diaz (Nanuet, N.Y.) combined for 35 assists, six digs and three service aces. Defensively, third-year libero Fola Wilson (Minneapolis) registered a match-best 11 digs while sophomores Marcelle Butler (Canton, Ga.) and Kailyn Williams (Arlington, Texas) produced four blocks each.
 
For DSU (6-11, 1-2 MEAC), Jordan Vang had a match-leading 15 kills in the loss.
 
Sunday (Oct. 6), HU travels to Princess Anne, Md., where the Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks await. First-serve is scheduled for 3 p.m.
 
For more information, visit the Bison Athletics website at www.HUBison.com.