LOS ANGELES (September 14, 2019) – Howard University women's volleyball team dropped a tough bout at No. 20 Southern California (USC) in three sets (22-25, 17-25, 24-26) inside The Galen Center. The contest was part of the Trojan Invitational, hosted by USC.
 
"I thought we had a very good effort this morning," said Howard women's volleyball head coach Shaun Kupferberg. "We fought hard and played well against ranked opponent in Southern Cal."
 
Juniors Myca Mitchell (Clovis, Calif.) and Jurnee Tipton (Ypsilanti, Mich.) led the Bison attack against USC. Mitchell had a team-leading 11 kills while Tipton registered second straight double-double with 12 digs and 10 kills in the loss.
 
HU (2-8) jumped out to an early advantage in the opening set, leading as much as seven after a kill from Mitchell, 13-6, but hitting errors from Howard kept USC in the game. Sophomore Kailyn Williams (Arlington, Texas) extended the Bison's lead to three, 17-14, but the Trojan's trio Jasmine Gross, Khalia Lanier and Kalen Owes took over and ended the set on a 11-5 run.
 
After dropping set two, HU found itself trailing early in set three, 9-5, but scored five unanswered to take the lead, 10-9. Both squads went back-and-forth in the game until the Trojans recorded back-to-back kills from Gross and Owes to end the set and match.
 
Defensively, junior Fola Wilson (Minneapolis, Minn.) produced a season-best 24 digs in the three-set loss.
 
For USC (3-3), Lanier and Owes led the Trojans with a match-high 13 kills, followed by Gross with 12 kills in the victory.
 
Saturday evening (Sept. 14), Howard wraps up the weekend against Ivy-League Champion Yale. Match time is scheduled for 8 p.m. (ET)/5 p.m. (CT) inside The Galen Center.
 
"[We] must clean up the little mistakes to be successful tonight," Kupferberg ended. "Yale is a championship veteran team and we will need to continue to fight hard in order to compete."
 
For more information, visit the Bison Athletics website at www.HUBison.com.