WASHINGTON, D.C. — Junior middle blocker McKayla Young posted a career-high 12 kills on the way to a match-high 15.5 points for visiting North Carolina Central University in a close 3-2 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference volleyball road loss at Howard University Friday night.
 
The Bison, who have won the last four MEAC Volleyball Championships, finished the fifth set on a 4-1 run to narrowly remain undefeated in league play with the 23-25, 25-20, 23-25, 25-18, 15-13 victory. Howard leveled its overall record to 11-11, including a flawless 8-0 mark in conference skirmishes.
 
NC Central (5-20, 4-5) will next play another MEAC road match, visiting Norfolk State University for a Sunday clash at 1 p.m.  
 
NC CENTRAL HIGHLIGHTS & STATS:
 
Young tallied her dozen kills on 28 swings with just four errors for a .286 hitting percentage. She added two solo blocks and three block assists to complete her 15.5-point performance.
 
Sophomore Arlanda Faulkner matched Young with 12 kills and classmate Ammaarah Williams followed closely with 11 kills.
 
Sophomore setter Celene Morris posted her 13th double-double of the season – including her seventh straight double-double – with 34 assists and 12 digs. Reigning MEAC Rookie of the Week Alyssa Pieh paced the Lady Eagles with 14 digs while junior libero Yomaries Villegas added a dozen digs.
 
HOWARD HIGHLIGHTS & STATS:
 
Junior Jurnee Tipton and sophomore Marcelle Butler each totaled 13 kills as four Bison reached double-digit kills. Howard hit .209 for the match with setters Kayla Diaz and freshman Semira Blair logging 32 and 26 assists, respectively.
 
1ST SET: Trailing 23-21, NCCU was able to rally out of a called timeout with four straight points to take the opener. After two errors by the Bison, the Lady Eagles used two blocks to finish off the set. Young had a solo block to put NCCU ahead and her second straight block, this time on a double block with Louis, finished off the frame in favor of the visitors.
 
2ND SET: Howard won the first two points and never relinquished the lead in a wire-to-wire set victory to tie up the match.  The Lady Eagles pulled within three at 16-13 to force the Bison to call a timeout. Howard won the next two points to pull out to a five-point edge, which was the final margin of victory in the set.
 
3RD SET: The Lady Eagles answered in a seesaw third set. With the tight game tied at 23-23, Faulkner ripped a kill and Young made another solo block as NCCU squeaked out another two-point win to regain a 2-1 set advantage.
 
4TH SET: Howard quickly constructed an 8-3 lead and hit .400 with 16 kills in the frame to once again tie the match with the seven-point win.
 
5TH SET: A couple kills by Faulkner helped NCCU jump out to a 5-2 edge. Two more kills by Alcox kept the Lady Eagles ahead by two, 8-6, as teams switched sides of the court. Young ripped her 12th kill to provide NCCU with its last lead at 12-11 before Howard rallied with its closing 4-1 run. Tipton ended the match with her 13th kill.