PRINCESS ANNE, Md. -- The Howard women's volleyball team advanced to its third consecutive Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Tournament semifinal with a 3-0 victory over South Carolina State on Friday afternoon at Maryland Eastern Shore's Hytche Arena.
The Bison's 11th straight win secures a date with Florida A&M on Saturday, November 21 at Noon in a rematch of Howard's 2014 MEAC Semifinal victory over the Rattlers.
"We're happy to win and to move on," said Howard head coach Shaun Kupferberg. "We've been working really hard [to get where we are]. We did some good things out there and we have some things we will work on but the most important part is that we won."
Howard (16-13) was paced by the outside hitter duo of freshman Courtney Dalton and sophomore Khaila Donaldson. Dalton had her eighth double-digit kills performance of the season, leading all players with 13 kills and hit .500 for the match. Donaldson added 11 kills to reach the 10-plus kills mark for the seventh straight match and 22nd time this season.
Freshman setter Tamia Dockery (18) and junior Briana Jackson (14) combined for 32 of Howard's 39 assists on the day, all but two of Howard's ten starters & subs recorded at least one dig (led by junior libero Morgan Marlbrough's nine) and Donaldson finished with three total blocks (one solo).
Outside of a competitive second set which saw Howard rally past SCSU from down 23-20, the Bison controlled the match with their signature strong attacks and consistent defensive play.
South Carolina State was led by Marissa Lawrence's ten kills.
“I thought we did a good job after the first set,” Lady Bulldogs head coach Valerie Jones said. “We did some good things in set two and set three, so I was pleased with their effort.”
The Lady Bulldogs conclude the season with a 4-19 record.