Harrisburg, PA - In a tough, gritty game, the Howard Community College Dragons pulled out a 3-1 win over the Harrisburg Area Community College Hawks on Wednesday night.
Facing a tough HACC team and a packed home gym, the Dragons pulled out a come-from-behind win on the road to move to 2-0 on the season.
The first set was a dominant display by the Dragons, as 14 kills from Howard's electric offense gave the Dragons a 25-19 win. Set two was tougher, with HACC locking down on defense and taking advantage of Dragon errors.
Toriana Curry proved to be the difference maker, recording back-to-back blocks late in the set to give Howard a 28-26 win.
Set three was also high scoring, with the Dragons and Hawks exchanging points from the start. Howard's offense was ferocious, with
Yusra Arenas and
Zyon Austin slamming down kills left and right. But the Hawks took advantage of errors and edged out Howard 27-25.
Now leading 2-1, the Dragons locked in for the final set. Against a noisy crowd, they came alive and fought back from an early deficit to win the set 25-22.
Amelia Thomas iced the contest with back-to-back unassisted kills to give the Dragons their second win of the year.
Curry led the Dragons with ten kills, nine blocks, and six digs. Thomas scored eight kills, seven blocks, and three digs, while Austin had seven kills. 12 digs, and three blocks. Arenas added seven kills, five digs, and three blocks in a solid night for the freshman.
Emma Nguyen continued to impress with three kills, four blocks, and 12 digs.
Abigail Nirola added 29 assists and 13 digs, while
Kira King swept the floor clean with 22 digs and three assists.
Diana Feria had her breakout performance for the Dragons with nine digs and two aces.
Next up for Howard is a showdown with Carroll Community College on Wednesday, September 9 at 6:00 PM.
