Columbia, MD - In the closest match that has been played in the Dragons Lair all season, Howard put up a strong fight before succumbing to the Cecil Seahawks in straight sets.

The match was close from start to finish as the two teams battled to long rallies throughout the contest. Cecil jumped out early in the first set as the hard serving Emily Maser went on a five point run including three aces to put the Seahawks up 15-7. Howard crawled back into the set as Natalie Hosseini (Ellicott City, MD/Mt. Hebron) won consecutive points on a kill and an ace to make it a 21-18 deficit. A Kira Thompson (Elkridge, MD/Atholton) kill put the Dragons within striking distance, but Cecil won out to take the first set. 

Cecil again jumped out early in the second set with five straight points with three Rebecca Holman aces, but Howard responded back to a 5-0 run with Hosseini picking up another two kills with Sroda Coleman (Columbia, MD/Long Reach) serving effectively. The Dragons rode another five point run as Emily Aubertin (Mount Airy, MD/Linganore) racked up the kills to put Howard ahead 20-17 before Cecil fought back with five straight. With the Seahawks ahead 24-22, Howard survived two set points on a big hit by Thompson and back-to-back aces by Sabrina Lagomarsino (Clarksville, MD/Atholton) to give the Dragons a set point try. Cecil locked it in after that and took the next three points as well as the second set. 

Set three was a back and forth affair with the teams staying even until the Dragon errors allowed Cecil to win seven of the last eight points to take the match. 

Aubertin led the team with a season high nine kills in the match to go with 13 digs in perhaps her best performance of the season. Hosseini also racked up nine kills along with two aces and two blocks with fellow middle Jordan Kent (Bowie, MD/Mt. Oak Christian) adding two blocks and a couple kills. Lagomarsino had a season high 22 assists with three aces while Thompson earned kills on seven of those assists.

Howard will next travel down to La Plata, MD to take on the College of Southern Maryland on Tuesday, October 8 at 6 PM.