BEL AIR, Md. - The Harford volleyball team (8-0, 3-0 MD JUCO) defeated the 2013 MD JUCO Champion Hagerstown Hawks on Thursday, 3-1, in front of 165 fans inside the APG Federal Credit Union Arena. The Fighting Owls, who won the final three sets, avenged last season's lone conference defeat.

Trailing 22-20 in the decisive fourth set, the Fighting Owls stayed strong, forcing four Hawk hitting errors that seemed to all come on marathon points. Numerous times down the stretch, both teams made point-saving digs as the tension mounted, but an ace by Fabiana Della-Monica helped the team to the milestone win.

Sophomore Lauren Brown had a team-best 13 kills and .313 hitting percentage to guide the Harford comeback. Brown added seven digs and five blocks, including a pair of crushing solo blocks down the stretch on the conference's leading hitter, Hagerstown's Peyton Wallach, who had a match-high 16 kills.

Della-Monica dished out 32 assists and tied for the team lead with Victoria Karayinopulos with 13 digs. Tiyaan Bumbray and Pheonix Offutt recorded seven and six kills, respectively.

After a tough first set, in which Harford fell 25-18, the Fighting Owls pounded out 13 kills in the second set to rebound. The home team dominated the third set before the back-and-forth affair to close it out.

The Fighting Owls host Baltimore City and Northern Virginia on Monday, beginning at 5 p.m.