MADISON, Wis. – After one of the best seasons in program history, the Howard University volleyball team came up short on Thursday night in a 3-0 (11-25, 18-25, 10-25) loss to No. 3 Wisconsin in the 2016 NCAA Tournament First Round at UW Field House.

Although the Bison were unable to take down the Badgers, they had an impressive record-setting season to look back on.

Senior Katherine Broussard and junior Jessica Young totaled seven kills apiece in the match for the Bison (26-6), who advanced to the NCAA Tournament after winning the 2016 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Championship for the second straight year.

Junior Khaila Donaldson added six kills and five digs and sophomore Tamia Dockery posted a team-high 22 assists and seven digs. Senior Morgan Marlbrough was close behind with six digs of her own.
Donaldson along with seniors Dominique Cleggett and Whitney Fields each had a pair of blocks.

After trading the first eight points of the match, the Badgers took a 7-4 lead and the Bison had to call a timeout. Howard quickly used its second timeout of the set when Wisconsin extended its run to 8-0. The home team doubled up on the Bison, 22-11, before it scored the final three points to take the set, 25-11.

Wisconsin had to burn an early timeout of its own once Howard opened the second set with a slight 4-3 edge on blocks by Donaldson and Fields and kills from Young and Cleggett. The Bison pushed their lead to 8-4 when Donaldson went opposite side for the kill but the Badgers rode a 14-8 run to get to a 20-17 advantage. Young’s swing couldn’t be controlled by the defense for the kill but HU dropped the set, 25-18.

The Badgers started the set with a 12-4 lead. In her first rally, sophomore Olubunmi Okunade joined Dockery at the net for the rejection but the Bison would need a timeout as the deficit grew to 15-6. Wisconsin’s hard hitting proved to be too much as Howard fell, 25-10.

Molly Haggerty led the charge for Wisconsin on 16 kills. Kelli Bates added 14 digs and Lauren Carlini had 41 assists.

~ Howard Sports Information