BALTIMORE (February 25, 2021) – Howard University women's volleyball team fell to Beltway rival Coppin State (CSU) in four sets (24-26, 17-25, 26-24, 17-25) at PEC Arena.
 
With the setback, HU dropped to 2-3 (1-2 MEAC) on the season while the Eagles moved to 2-4 (1-1 MEAC) overall.
 
Redshirt junior Marcelle Butler (Canton, Ga.) led the way with a team-best 14 kills in the loss.
 
Junior Kailyn Williams (Arlington, Texas) tied the first set late with a kill, 24-24, but back-to-back hitting errors from HU would give CSU a 1-0 match advantage.
 
Coppin State took a commanding 2-0 match lead after producing a match-best .414 hitting percentage, but Howard refused to back down.
 
HU recorded a team-high .382 hitting percentage in set three, but CSU battled to tie the game late after a kill by Paola Caten, 24-24. After CSU's service error, Butler delivered a game-winning kill to slice the match deficit in half, 1-2.
 
Howard scored the first two points from sophomore Kayla Diaz's (Nanuet, N.Y.) ace and freshman Kendall Smith's (Glenview, Ill.) kill in game four, but Coppin State would score the next 11 out of 15 points to put the contest out of reach.
 
Diaz (19 assists & 12 digs), junior Milexa Cardona (Kissimmee, Fla./13 digs & 11 assists) and newcomer Amari Patterson (Waukegan, Ill./15 digs & 12 assists) each registered double-doubles in a losing effort.
 
For CSU, they snapped their four-match losing skid and earned their first win against the Bison since 2013. Caten led the way with a match-high 15 kills and six digs while Salma Gonzalez notched a double-double (11 digs & 10 kills) in the win.
 
Monday (March 1), HU travels back to Baltimore where the Morgan State Lady Bears await. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. inside the Hill Field House.
 
For more information, visit the Bison Athletics website at www.HUBison.com.