Butler County, PA - Playing without star outside hitter Morgan Conner (Sandy Spring, MD/Sherwood), the Dragons were unable to pull out a win in western Pennsylvania, falling to #2 ranked Butler County 3-0 and Westmoreland 3-1.

The Dragons put up a solid showing against one of the top NJCAA D3 teams in the country, but the Pioneers had too much firepower in the end. Eryca Sterling (Columbia,MD/Wilde Lake) tallied 18 digs in the game while Sydnei Harmon (Largo, MD/Flowers) swatted down a couple of blocks, but the Howard offense was unable to breakthrough enough in the match.

In the second round of the tri-match, the Dragons narrowly lost the first set 25-23, took the second set 25-20, but could not keep the momentum going as they lost the last two sets 25-21 and 25-18 respectively.

Sterling came up with a remarkable 31 digs with Ashlee Forde (Barbados/Foundation) adding 14. Jessica Hendricks (Woodbine, MD/Covenant Life) led the Howard offense with 14 kills and three blocks while Mikaela Brewer (Gaithersburg, MD/Covenant Life) added 27 assists. 

The Dragons will next return home for a stretch of four matches in three days starting with Potomac State on Thursday, September 29 at 7 PM.