Howard Defeats Lafayette; Barnes Gets First Career Win
WASHINGTON, D.C. - After dropping the first set, the Howard University women's volleyball team roared back in impressive fashion, winning the next three sets to defeat Lafayette, 3-1 and give head Coach Dawn Barnes her first career win at the Hilltop.
"I am so proud of the way the ladies played tonight," said an excited Barnes. "This is a great first win at home and first collegiate win for me as a head coach. We got great fan support tonight and I think that was a big factor.
Howard (1-3) dropped the first set, 17-25, partly due to a strong start by the Leopards and partly due to some excitement from the team playing its first home match of the season.
But from that point, the lady Bison began to dominate the action as junior Tosin Elebute, seniors Taylor Johnson and Keri Patridge, junior Jiyana Brown and sophomore Jasmine King began to assert themselves. Howard won the final sets, 25-21, 25-17 and 25-8.
Elebute, who has played well through the early part of the season, had a team-high 14 kills and 6 digs. Johnson recorded 11 kills and Patridge finished with 8. Brown also had an all-around performance with 6 kills, 6 service aces, 8 digs and a solo block. King dished out 34 assists and connected on 6 digs.
"I thought that we had great production from my middles," said Barnes. "Tosin and Taylor were superb with their blocking. Jiyana had an awesome second half and Jasmine was very solid as well. Overall, it was a very good team effort and something to build on."
The Lady Bison travel to Youngstown, OH to participate in the Youngstown Invitational where they will take on the host, Youngstown State at 6 on Friday followed by Central Michigan and Niagara at 1:30 pm and 4:30 pm, respectively on Saturday.
"We are really looking forward to this tournament," added Barnes.