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PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland - In the most intense battle of the season so far-one that had a good chance of determining first place out of the MEAC North-the Hawks came up just short of dethroning the front running Bison. Howard won the match in four sets over Maryland Eastern Shore (19-25, 25-23, 13-25, 22-25) in spite of an energetic crowd Friday evening at the William P. Hytche Athletic Center.

"We played a hard fought match and had some very good moments." Hawks coach Toby Rens said after the match. "We did a good job of getting Howard out of system but we didn't capitalize on opportunities like we needed to in order to win."

Despite the defeat, three Hawks turned in double-double efforts. Sophomore Rachel Kayongo (Northridge, California) led The Shore with 11 kills and supplied 10 digs, and classmate Zuzana Ondruskova (Bilovec, Czech Republic) totaled 10 kills with 10 digs. Freshman Ivana Blazevic (Zagreb, Croatia) led her team in assists with 33 and digs with 15, while also delivering a match high three aces.

Senior Mere Serea (Suva, Fiji) returned from an injury with a fine performance of five kills and a .312 hitting percentage to go along with a solo block and a block assist. Sophomore Lucia Babic (Sisak, Croatia) put forth eight kills and 13 digs.

Howard's Khalia Donaldson led the match with 24 kills, while Tamia Dockery tallied 53 assists and Katherine Broussard secured 19 digs.

The Bison improved to 18-5 (7-0 MEAC) while the Hawks' record fell to 13-11 (6-2 MEAC). The match also ended a six match winning streak for The Shore.

Maryland Eastern Shore's moment of the match came in the second set. After trailing slightly for the entire first set before eventually losing by six, the Hawks found themselves needing a rally to turn the tide. The visiting Bison were not about to make it easy for them, and they once again successfully built a steady lead. This time, however, The Shore fought back and they began to eat into the Bison lead around the midway point of set two.

With the score 20-17 in favor of Howard, Serea and Ondruskova delivered kills to pull within one and force a Bison timeout. Two immediate mistakes by the visitors gave the Hawks the edge and forced another stoppage in play from the bewildered Bison. Both teams would battle to force a 23-23 tie with Howard serving. But the next serve went into the net, and one final Kayongo kill knotted the match at 1-1 entering intermission.

In the third set, Howard shook off any jitters left over from set two. The Bison stormed out to a 9-4 lead and did not let up, ultimately winning the set by 12 points.

Set four would play much closer. For the first time all match, it was Maryland Eastern Shore who held the edge early. However The Shore were unable to push the lead higher than two and Howard was able to claim the lead at the 11-10 mark. The Bison would then go on a 7-2 run and extend the advantage to six.

The run did not succeed in making the Hawks go away quietly. Maryland Eastern Shore used two kills by Kayongo and one by Serea to cut the deficit in half. Howard raced back to reclaim a six point edge. Once again, the Hawks trimmed away and an Ondruskova kill forced a Bison timeout. But the visitors' lead proved too much to overcome and after a Hawks error brought on match point, a kill from Dominique Cleggett gave the match to Howard.

Maryland Eastern Shore will play their final non-conference matchup with New Hampshire on Saturday. First serve is set for noon inside the Hytche Center.