Monday, November 21, 2011

UMES Hawks Volleyball Earns 1st Trip to NCAA Tourney; MEAC Champions!!

BALTIMORE, MD -- The University of Maryland Eastern Shore won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Championship for the first time ever with a five-set victory over Florida A&M (15-25, 25-17, 25-21, 18-25, 15-12) at the Physical Education Complex at Coppin State University.

With the win, UMES has earned an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. The Hawks continue their winning streak with their 19th straight victory, improving to 24-6. Florida A&M falls to 13-13.

After Kaveinga Lea'Aetoa (Salt Lake City, Utah) earned the first kill of the match, the Rattlers came strong with a 5-0 run with two aces from Maria Ceccarelli. FAMU built up an 18-6 lead in the game. UMES took five of the next six points including aces from Lea'Aetoa and Zoe Bowens (Long Beach, Calif.) and a kill and two blocks from Ndidi Ibe (North Richland, Texas), but ultimately it was not enough as the Rattlers won set one 25-15.

Game two started back and forth as the score was tied at five each. The Hawks put together a 3-0 run capped by a Lea'Aetoa ace for an 8-5 lead. UMES kept a lead when the Rattlers took three of four points late to get within three at 17-14. The Hawks surged ahead with five straight points including kills from Victoria Williams (Los Angeles, Calif.) and Maline Vaitai (Salt Lake City, Utah), plus a Bowens ace, to take a 22-14 lead. UMES took the set 25-17 to even the match.

At 4-4 in the third game, Saitaua Iosia (Long Beach, Calif.) went to work on a personal 3-0 run with a kill and two aces for a 7-4 UMES lead. The Hawks did not allow any back-to-back points against them until the Rattlers got two to put UMES's lead at 17-14. After FAMU got to within one at 19-18, Iosia got a kill and solo block to put the advantage back to three. At 22-20 UMES, the Hawks took three of the final four points, including two kills from Vaitai, to win the set 25-22 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.


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