DOVER, Del., Nov. 18, 2023 – Jennifer Bolden led the way with 14.5 points as Howard University swept Delaware State University in three sets (25-23, 25-17, 25-22) in the 2023 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Volleyball Championship semifinals at Memorial Hall Gym.
The second-seeded Bison (17-13) advance to the MEAC Championship match for the first time since the 2021 season when they won the title and will take on top-seeded Coppin State University on Sunday at 8:30 p.m.
Bolden led the Bison with 13 kills while hitting .571 on the evening. Rya McKinnon, two-time MEAC Player of the Year, hit .500 with nine kills and eight digs.
Howard opened the match scoring the first three points over Delaware State setting an early tone. The Hornets responded by putting three points on the board putting the score at 4-3. The Bison maintained a slight edge through the early part of the set, but towards the middle took a four-point lead, 15-11, on a service ace from Kayla Diaz. The Hornets cut away at the Bison lead to tie the score at 18 and continued onward taking the lead 19-18 following an 8-3 rally. The score evened up three more times with Howard going on a three-point run to include the third draw, 21-all, and pulled ahead 23-21 forcing Delaware State to call a late timeout. The break in action helped the Hornets score on a kill from Kelsie Dawson, but it was not quite enough as the Bison closed out the set scoring two of the last three points to win 25-23.
Set two began with the Hornets jumping out to the early lead going up 5-3 following a kill from Julia Kneba. Howard evened the score at five all on a freeball that fell for a kill from Claire Simpson, but Delaware State remained composed and pulled ahead again, 12-8, following the 7-3 run. Three consecutive kills from Jennifer Bolden for Howard put the Bison behind by one point as the Hornets called a timeout to regroup. Howard continued to stampede onward coming out of the timeout pulling ahead 14-12 after two service aces fell for Rya McKinnon and Bolden put down her fourth kill in the rally. Delaware State pulled within one point, 15-14, but the momentum was with Howard who closed out the set on a 10-3 run winning set two 25-17 and taking a 2-0 lead in the match.
Delaware State came out guns a blazing in the third set knowing they needed to take at least one set to remain in the game. The Hornets started set three off on a 6-2 run which included three kills, a service ace, and several Bison errors. DSU was able to keep Howard at bay throughout the middle of the set holding on to a four-point lead, 16-12, after a kill fell for Valeria Otero. A pair of Bison kills, one each from Cimone Woodard and MicKinnon, put the Bison down two and began the comeback for Howard who evened the score at 18 all on a kill from Bolden and forcing DSU to call a timeout. The two teams went back and forth tying the score twice more, last at 21 all, before Howard sealed the deal on a 4-1 run to win 25-22 and the match in three sets
Alondra Maldonado led the Hornets (17-13) with nine kills hitting .600 and tallied three digs. Kelsie Dawson was not far behind with seven kills and led the team with a .778 hitting percentage.
About the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is in its 53rd year of intercollegiate competition with the 2023-24 academic school year. Located in Norfolk, Va., the MEAC is made up of eight outstanding historically black institutions across the Atlantic coastline: Coppin State University, Delaware State University, Howard University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Morgan State University, Norfolk State University, North Carolina Central University and South Carolina State University.