The C word, as in complacency, has been the undoing of many championship teams as they attempt to defend their titles.

That dreaded demon doesn’t seem to have victimized the Howard volleyball team that won the 2015 MEAC crown. The Lady Bison are off to a 12-5 start after going 4-0 in their first matches. However, Coach Shaun Kupferberg isn’t dropping his guard.

“I guess for us complacency takes a different form,” Kupferberg says. “I wasn’t worried that they would they have the MEAC wrapped up. I was more worried about us getting better and pushing the limits of what we can do, what more we can accomplish. That’s what I was most scared of. We have to continue to push forward.”

Kupferberg says he has seen no signs in practices of the Bison not pushing themselves to improve, and that has carried over to their play thus far in the non-conference portion of their schedule. Even though the Bison are off to their best start since 2013, Kupferberg’s second season, there is still work to be done before they are at the level they hope to reach.

“We were a good team last year,” he says. “Going from good to great is a big jump. We’re on the border. We’re a good, solid team. We haven’t quite gotten over the hump.”

Kupferberg says the Bison go into matches competing against themselves as they try to meet the goals that they have set for that particular contest. They are able to take that approach, he says, because of the team’s experience. Twelve letter-winners returned from last year’s conference championship squad.

“They know what the expectations are,” Kupferberg says. “They know me. They know the staff. When we haven’t met expectations, for freshmen and young players, it’s hard to grasp that we won the game but didn’t meet these goals. We have certain statistical goals that we’re expected to meet. We need to meet them more consistently. It has nothing to do with the other team. It’s a matter of what are we doing? Where are we at? Are we making unforced errors?”

The Bison have more depth this season than they did a year ago. Captains Katherine Broussard and Whitney Fields are healthy and contributing after sitting out all of 2015 with injuries; freshmen Kira Porter, Jurnee Farrell and, Houston Griffin and transfer Jessica Young are newcomers in the mix.

“Our depth has allowed us to have competitive practices,” Kupferberg says. “There’s not an easy point to be had in practice.”

Outside hitter Khaila Donaldson has been a dominant performer for the Bison after being named Outstanding Performer of the 2015 MEAC Tournament. Donaldson was MVP of the District of Columbia Challenge and the Penn Invitational.

“It’s been a process for her,” Kupferberg says. “She is focused. She listens. She puts in the work every day. She changed her approach and that has allowed her to get higher and stronger. She has grown mentally, and she is limiting unforced errors. She has turned into an elite player. She is able to do pretty much what she wants. She sees the potential.

There is still another step for her to take to take full control.”

Kupferberg couldn’t have scripted a better start to the season for the Bison than their sweep of the D.C. Challenge Tournament. The weekend featured their first ever win against American University, the four-time defending champion of the Patriot League and the favorite again this season, as well as wins against George Mason and Georgetown.

“That was a big weekend,” Kupferberg says. “As a coach from December to August you spend time trying to make yourself better. You tell your team these are the things that will make us better. You ask them to put faith in us and trust that these things will work. Playing against each other (in practice), you have no idea. Against someone else, you get a barometer. Opening weekend, a lot was about we think we’re pretty good, but we struggled in practice. We knew that when we played well, we’d be okay.”

That proved to be correct as the Bison swept the Penn Invitational two weeks later, defeating George Mason, Penn, Bucknell and Lafayette.

Kupferberg says the first month of the season, by design, has the Bison playing an extremely challenging non-conference schedule to get them ready for MEAC play. They hit a rough patch in the Golden Dome Invitational, losing host Notre Dame, 14th-ranked Purdue and Coastal Carolina. They face Clemson, 20th-ranked Penn State and Rhode Island in another tough test this weekend. Kupferberg is confident the early season tests will pay dividends in the end.

“The key is don’t get complacent,” he says, “and keep hitting our goals. We can be playing Penn State or in the conference. Our goals are the same. If we lose focus on that, we’ll be in trouble. That’s our greatest fear and our focus.”