Sept. 18, 2004

PRINCESS ANNE, MD - Day Two of the 2004 Hawk Volleyball Invitational began in a very similar way to Day One as Youngstown State University swept through its first match. However, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) highlighted the tournament as it finished strong, winning its final three matches.

Match One

In the first match the Penguins dominated Sacred Heart in three games, 30-18, 30-20 and 30-21, keeping their streak of consecutive games won alive as they had not lost a game to that point in the tournament.

The Penguins improved to 3-0 on the weekend and once again was led by the combination of Melanie Pounders, Jessica Fraley, and Angie Pasquinelle. Pounders recorded eight digs, Fraley added 11 kills and Pasquinelle provided 33 assists, all three were match-high's.

The Pioneers fell to 0-3 on the weekend, but did receive solid efforts from Heather Brooks, who had eight kills, and Samantha McMillan, who had 20 assists.

Match Two

In the second match of the day, UMES (6-6) swept Columbia 30-22, 30-25, and 30-28 to improve to 2-1 on the weekend. The Hawks cruised through the first two games, but ran into some pressure in the third as they came close to blowing a 27-17 advantage as the Lions closed to 27-26 before UMES found a way to win the third and final game.

The Hawks were led by to senior duo of Mamie Lewis and Jana Milin. Lewis recorded a match-high 16 kills and two block assists, while Milin added 15 kills and a match-high six aces.

Columbia was led by Cassie Ligh, who had a team-high 11 kills and 15 digs. Through the three matches Ligh leads her team with 35 kills and leads the tournament with 45 digs.

Match Three

In the third and most thrilling match of the Invitational to this point, Youngstown State and Wofford played a five-game match that went to the wire in every game. In the first two games, the Penguins (7-5) looked as if they would roll through the tournament undefeated as they won 30-27 and 30-26 to take a commanding two game lead.

However, Wofford responded winning the next two games in dramatic fashion 34-32 and 30-27, ending the Penguins streak of games won in the tournament. With the match coming down to a fifth and final game the teams battled point for point as at no time in the game did either team lead by more than two points until Wofford won four of the final five points to win the game 15-12 and the match 3-2.

The Penguins again relied on Fraley and Pasquinelli to guide them. Fraley recorded a team-high 16 kills and three service aces, while Pasquinelli added 58 assists and 17 digs. Janelle McDonald led the team with 18 digs.

However the trio of Andrea Duke, Kate Lasser and Rhea DeJesus could not be matched. Duke recorded a match-high 22 kills and five service aces, while chipping in 10 digs. Laser had 21 kills and two key blocks. Meanwhile, DeJesus tallied a tournament-high 70 assists in the match and added 15 digs. Shana Glenn has a match-high 24 digs. .

The loss for Youngstown State concluded its weekend at 3-1, improving its overall record to 7-5. Leading the way for the Penguins all weekend were Fraley and Pasquinelli. Over the four matches, Pasquinelli tallied 166 assists and 38 digs, while Fraley had 57 kills.

Match Four

Not to be out done, Columbia and Sacred Heart provided a great match as Columbia won the first two games 30-25 and 30-20, but the Pioneers rebounded to capture the third game 32-30. In the fourth game, Sacred Heart (1-11) held a slim 25-24 lead when Columbia's Nikki Learned took control serving the Lions (1-7) to victory.

Columbia finished the tournament 1-3, but received a tremendous effort from Cassie Ligh, who recorded 15 kills and 19 digs in the final match against Sacred Heart. For the tournament she totaled 50 kills and 64 digs over the four matches.

For Sacred Heart, who dropped to 1-11 overall, Heather Brooks led the team with 16 kills and Jillian Frey provided 17 digs. For the tournament, Frey recorded 52 digs, while Brooks totaled 42 kills.

Match Five

In the final match of the 2004 Lady Hawk Volleyball Invitational the Hawks held off another attempt at a five game comeback victory by Wofford. The Terriors (4-7), who came from down two games against Youngstown State earlier in the day, found themselves again down two games to UMES.

In the first two games the Hawks rolled, winning 30-26 and 30-27. However, in the third and fourth games Wofford was able to find a groove and dominated UMES, winning 30-19 and 30-25.

In the fifth and final game, the Hawks regained their form from games one and two and quickly gained a 9-4 advantage over the Terriors. Wofford was able to shrink the lead slowly, but found themselves trailing 14-11. Meredith Brantley was able to carry her team back into the lead as she served Wofford to a 15-14 lead. However, Likica Grceva answered back finishing off the match with three straight points to win the game 17-15.

The victory improved the Hawks to 3-1 in the tournament and 6-6 overall on the season. The loss for Wofford dropped them to 3-1 in the tournament and 4-7 overall. Also joining UMES and Wofford at 3-1 was Youngstown State, for a three-way tie for first.

Pacing the Hawks throughout the weekend were Lewis and Milin. Lewis totaled 59 kills and five blocks, while Milin had 17 service aces and 56 kills, including a match-high 21 in the final match against Wofford.

For Wofford, Laser and Duke both dominated the attack as Laser had 60 kills and Duke had a tournament-high 69 kills. Also coming up big was Rhea DeJesus who recorded a tournament-high 215 assists over the four matches.

"I was impressed by the way our team held strong after a tough loss against Youngstown State in the first match," said Head Coach Alex Timkin. "However, I was even more impressed by the quality of teams and games played this entire weekend. All the teams deserve a lot of credit for the effort they displayed."