PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The Howard volleyball team swept the Penn Invitational after tallying a pair of wins on its final day. The Bison started with a 3-1 (25-15, 20-25, 25-13, 25-11) triumph over Lafayette before downing Bucknell in three sets (25-17, 25-22, 28-26) at the Palestra.
The Bison's four victories over the weekend moved them to 8-3 overall. The team only dropped two sets and it was also the second tournament that Howard went undefeated in this season.
Junior Khaila Donaldson was named tournament MVP for the second time this year. She was joined on the All-Tournament Team by sophomore Tamia Dockery.
HOWARD 3, LAFAYETTE 1
Donaldson paced the team with 15 kills. Senior Katherine Broussard added seven kills and 11 digs, while Dockery dished out 31 assists. Senior Morgan Marlbrough had a match-high 15 digs.
Howard jumped out to a commanding 11-4 lead to start the match. Four straight errors by the Leopards widened the gap in favor of the Bison, who were then up 17-11. Senior Whitney Fields served four consecutive points, which included a service ace to extend the lead to 23-13. Lafayette continued to be overpowered as Howard took the set, 25-15.
Lafayette turned things around in the second set, going up 12-8 to force the Bison to spend a timeout. The Bison took advantage of the service errors by the Leopards and Marlbough's ace to pull within two, 19-17. Lafayette burned a timeout and came out firing on all cylinders to win the set, 25-20.
The Bison opened the third set on a 9-4 run to quickly send the Leopards to the bench. Howard refused to slow down with blocks from sophomores Olubunmi Okunade and Courtney Dalton. The Bison pushed their advantage to 23-12 after back-to-back attack errors by Lafayette. Broussard gave her squad the set-point opportunity on a spike and a Leopards attack error handed over the set, 25-13.
Howard carried its momentum into the final set after getting a 9-2 upper hand, which led to a Lafayette timeout. The Leopards tried to respond but were stifled by a pair of aces from junior Carlise Cardoza. The two teams traded errors but it did not help Lafayette's cause as Howard led 22-10. Dalton put the exclamation on the set to end the match with a Bison victory.
HOWARD 3, BUCKNELL 0
For the seventh match in-a-row, Donaldson reached double figures in kills (19), paired with seven digs and three blocks. Classmate Jessica Young posted 12 kills and Dalton added seven kills.
Dockery earned her fifth double-double of the season with 35 assists and 12 digs. While Marlbrough tallied 13 digs, Okunade was dominating the net, coming away with seven blocks.
Bucknell burned an early timeout after Howard had six straight points for a 7-1 lead. Howard didn't let up as it pushed the score to 15-8 for another Bucknell timeout. Donaldson tallied three kills and a block by Dockery helped the Bison to a 21-14 edge. The pair joined Young to notch the final four points for Howard to claim the set, 25-17.
Howard put the first four points on the scoreboard in the second set before Bucknell fought back to lead 11-8. The Bison went on to tie the score twice before getting a two-point edge, 17-15, after a block and ace for a Bucknell timeout. The two teams traded points until Marlbrough's ace and Young's four kills made it 24-22 in Howard's favor. Dalton came through with the spike to take the set, 25-22.
The Bison were out to a 9-4 start after they posted the first four points of the set. Bucknell was not deterred as the battled to knot the score at 9. The pair of teams would tie the score eight more times before an ace gave Bucknell a one-point lead, 20-19, as Howard called for time. Howard managed to lock the set at 23 on a kill and block by Okunade and Bucknell used its final timeout. The squads exchanged attack errors and kills to keep the set tied, 26-26. Donaldson slammed down a spike, followed by a Bucknell attack error for Howard to take home the sweep.
Howard returns to the nation's capital for a 7 p.m. matchup with Loyola (Md.) on Tuesday, Sept. 13 in Burr Gymnasium.
