WASHINGTON (September 10, 2019) – Howard University women's volleyball team dropped its home opener to Loyola (Md.) in five sets (17-25, 22-25, 25-20, 25-23, 14-16) at Burr Gymnasium.
 
"We are not a good team right now" said Howard women's volleyball head coach Shaun Kupferberg after the match. "We need to find out who wants to get better and train them to make our team respectable. If we can find seven or eight people that want to be great, then we will have a pretty good year."
 
HU (2-6) struggled throughout keeping the ball in play, committing 53 unforced errors (27 hitting errors and 26 serving errors).
 
Despite trailing 2-0 after the first two sets, Howard got into a rhythm in sets three and four. HU recorded a .352 hitting percentage, led by senior middle blocker Kira Porter (Lake Tahoe, Nev.) with five kills.
 
In the fifth and deciding set, the Greyhounds committed six hitting errors, which accumulated to a -.053 hitting percentage, but the Bison registered nine unforced errors (five serving errors and four hitting errors) that would give Loyola (Md.) the set and match.
 
Junior Jurnee Tipton (Ypsilanti, Mich.) led the Bison attack with a match-best 19 kills, six digs, two service aces and a pair of blocks. Porter added 11 kills, followed by junior Myca Mitchell (Clovis, Calif.) with 10 kills.
 
For Loyola (Md.) (2-5), Ann Ernest had a team-high 17 kills and eight digs in the victory.
 
Next up (Sept. 13-14), Howard goes to Los Angeles for the Trojan Invitational, hosted by Southern Cal. Friday (Sept. 13), HU takes on Villanova and USC, then battles Yale Saturday (Sept. 14).
 
For more information, visit the Bison Athletics website at www.HUBison.com.