UMES Hawks Outlast CSU Eagles, Keep Winning Ways

PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland -- For the second leg of their Baltimore road trip, the Hawks volleyball squad fought for a road sweep and their third victory in a row. They would do just that, outlasting a tough Eagles squad in a pair of close sets before taking a 3-0 victory (25-23, 25-16, 27-25). UMES improves to 14-3 (3-1 MEAC) while Coppin State falls to 6-10 (3-2 MEAC).

Freshman Zuzana Ondruskova (Bilovec, Czech Republic) led the way with 16 kills, while sophomore Kirstin Fink (Tucson, Ariz.) also tallied double-digit kills in 12 while boasting a .409 kill percentage. The most efficient attacker for UMES was sophomore Alana Polk (Houston, Texas) who earned nine kills against just one error for a 50% success rate.

As a team, the Hawks earned seven blocks, with senior Petra Jerabkova (Prague, Czech Republic) participating in four of them. Fellow senior Andjela Reljic (Novi Sad, Serbia) supplied two aces and 11 digs, both team-highs.

Coppin State would take the lead early in the first set, forcing the Hawks to use their two timeouts early. Faced with a five point deficit at the 17-12 mark, UMES would rally thanks to a pair of kills by Ondruskova and a Reljic ace. A back-and-forth battle would ensue with each team matching each other to a 23- 23 tie. The Hawks would win the set on a Fink and Polk block and a Coppin attack error.

Set two proved to be a tight battle early, with the Hawks pulling away in the second half. An ace from Ondruskova gave the Hawks a five point edge at 18-13 and the visitors never looked back. A kill from Polk and a final shot from Ondruskova gave UMES a 25-16 win and a 2-0 break at intermission.

Feeding off the momentum UMES raced out to a 6-1 lead in the third set, thanks to an ace from freshman Marta Klafuric (Donja Lomnica, Croatia) and two kills from fellow first year Rachel Kayongo (Northridge, Calif.). But the Eagles would fight back to force a deadlock at several points midway thru the set. At one point, Coppin held a three point lead with one point to go. However, a three point rally capped by a Kayongo kill forced extra time, and a final kill from Fink would be the finishing touch.

For the Eagles, Cindy Okpegbue led the match with 18 kills with a 45.9% success rate.

The Hawks return home for their next match on Friday when they host Delaware State as part of UMES' Hawk Hysteria festivities. Match time is set for 6:00 p.m..

Box Score

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