DOVER, Del. – The North Carolina Central University volleyball team fell to Delaware State University in five sets (25-20, 23-25, 15-25, 25-23, 12-15) Friday on the road at Memorial Hall.

The Eagles (3-13, 1-4 MEAC) managed to tie up the match with a fourth-set victory while previously winning the first set. NCCU kept the deciding set close, but the DSU Hornets came out on top.

Kamren Harper finished with 15 kills on the day to lead the Eagles' attack. Defensively, three players reached double figures in digs, including Gabriela Felix-Baeza's 21, 13 from Emmie Modlin, and 12 more from Karolina Zubkova. Bella Dearinger set a match-high 29 assists.

How It Happened

The Eagles took control on the first point and held the lead the rest of the way to secure the first set 25-20. NC Central led by six points at 10-4 before closing out the set.

NCCU lost the second set 25-23 to tie the match 1-1. Delaware State grabbed the advantage for good at 22-21 in a set that was tied up eight times before the Hornets won the second half of the stanza.

North Carolina Central then dropped their second set in a row, falling behind in the match two sets to one. The Eagles never gained the lead after the Hornets scored the first point with DSU eventually winning, 25-15.

The Maroon and Gray broke their two-set losing streak and forced a fifth set with a 25-23 victory in set number four. There were four lead changes before the Eagles controlled the second half of the stanza.

After tying things up at 2-2 to force a fifth set, NCCU couldn't complete the comeback, falling 15-12 and losing the match 3-2. The Eagles dropped a close back-and-forth set that was tied nine times. Neither team led by more than three points in the set.

Up next for NC Central is a battle at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore on Sunday, Oct. 13 at 1 p.m.

For more information on NCCU Athletics, visit NCCUEaglePride.com, or download the NCCU Eagles Athletics app.