Aug. 26, 2006
Box Score
PRINCESS ANNE, MD - The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) Lady Hawks defeated non-conference foes Wofford and Quinnipiac to claim the Kick-Off Classic title today at the Hytche Center. The maroon and gray took down the Terriers 3-1 (30-26, 27-30, 30-20, 31-29) and coasted to a 3-0 (30-20, 30-15, 30-8) victory over the Bobcats.
Tournament MVP CaylinWoodward (Garden Grove, Calif./Pacifica H.S.) finished with 28 kills and 26 digs on the day while Holiday Eller (Minnetonka, Minn./St. Benilde-St. Margaret's H.S.) had 15 kills and 19 digs. Yael Rozner (Haifa, Israel/Kiriat Haim H.S.) contributed a double-double in each match and finished with 68 kills and 35 kills.
In the match against Wofford, the contest went back and forth in the opening game until a service ace by Woodward gave the maroon and gray a 20-16 advantage, forcing the Terriers into a timeout. The Terriers tied the score at 25 off a Lisa Lindemenn kill but Woodward scored three of the final five points for UMES (3-0) to give the Lady Hawks the game one victory.
Game two was another close decision with UMES taking an early lead at 15-11. However Wofford (2-1) took advantage of several Hawk errors and netted the lead at 17-16. Adora Luster (Woodbridge, Va./Osbourn Park H.S.) had two key kills for the maroon and gray late in the game but the Terriers wound up edged the maroon and gray 30-27.
The Lady Hawks capitalized on attacking errors by Wofford in game three to take a 14-7 lead early in the contest. A kill by Maja Baltic (Belgrade, Serbia & Montenegro/KGB) and a ball handling error by Joanna Suddath gave UMES their largest lead of the night, a 17-9 advantage over the Terriers. Wofford scored three straight points late in the game but a kill by Woodward sealed the 30-20 victory for the maroon and gray.
UMES held the lead the entire time during game four but the Terriers tied things up on several occasions. The Lady Hawks opened the game on a 10-3 run thanks to four Terrier errors but Wofford fought back to tie the score at 12. Both teams battled back and forth over the next few possessions until UMES was able to take a three-point advantage at 25-22 thanks to a kill by Melanie Durimel (Neuilly sur Marne, France/Univ. de Marne La Valle). The Lady Hawks finally pulled out the 31-29 decision to seal the 3-1 victory over Wofford.
Woodward contributed a double-double of 19 kills and 23 digs while Rozner finished with a double-double of 39 assists and 22 digs. Eller also had a double-double of her own of 14 kills and 17 digs while Stephanie Braxton (Upper Marlboro, Md./Frederick Douglass H.S.) added 20 digs on the defensive end. Suddath finished with 24 assists and 19 digs while Sarah Palmer had 10 kills and 15 digs.
The maroon and gray cruised to a 3-1 win over Quinnipiac earlier in the day. The Bobcats hung tight with the Lady Hawks early in game one but a kill by Durimel at 20-19 spurred a 10-1 run for UMES.
Game two saw the Hawks take a double digit lead when a Kim Braxton (Upper Marlboro, Md./Frederick Douglass H.S.) kill gave the maroon and gray a 21-11 advantage. Another Braxton kill gave UMES the win and their largest lead of the night, a 15-point victory over the Bobcats (30-15). Quinnipiac would manage only eight points in the entire third game as a Woodward kill gave the Lady Hawks a 15-2 lead to open the decision. Four attacking errors by the Bobcats in the final minutes of the contest allowed UMES to take the decisive 30-8 game three victory.
Braxton had a match high nine kills to go along with three digs while Rozner added a double-double of 29 assists and 13 digs.
In the first match of day, third of the tournament, Norfolk State University (NSU) battled Wofford College in a fairly close three game decision. Wofford topped the Lady Spartans of NSU by scores of 30-26, 30-27, and 30-18. The Terriers' Sarah Twitty and Liz Sheets recorded ten kills each while Joanna Suddath added 25 assists. NSU's Karina Moore had 12 kills in the loss.
The 2006 Kick-Off Classic's fifth match was a thriller as Quinnipiac University tangled with NSU. The match was back and forth with the Lady Spartans getting the better of the Bobcats three games to one (26-30, 30-17, 30-21, 30-24). Norfolk State was led again by Moore who had 16 kills while teammate Afryea Allen banged home 11 kills. NSU setter Solange Honore had 37 assists in the win. Quinnipiac got a solid outing from Jenna Benigno with 17 kills. Crista Valentino added 11 kills in the defeat.
At the conclusion of the tournament an All-Tournament Team was named. The seven member squad was led by Most Valuable Performer Caylin Woodward. The Hawk's freshman sensation tallied 35 kills in the three matches to lead UMES. She pitched in with 14 assists, seven service aces 33 digs and four total blocks. Also on the squad for UMES was Maja Baltic. The sophomore tallied seven total blocks, 13 kills and 12 service aces in the event. The final UMES member was Holiday Eller who tallied the second most kills on the team with 27. Her defense was solid as well as she notched 23 digs and seven aces.
Other members of the All-Tournament Team included Liz Sheets and Joanna Suddath of Wofford, Karina Moore of Norfolk State and Jenna Benigno of Quinnipiac.
The Lady Hawks finish a busy weekend with a single non-conference match tomorrow against Canisius at 2 pm in the Hytche Center.
2006 Kick-Off Classic All-Tournament Team:
Jenna Benigno Quinnipiac University
Karina Moore Norfolk State University
Joanna Suddath Wofford College
Liz Sheets Wofford College
Holiday Eller University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Maja Baltic University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Caylin Woodward University of Maryland Eastern Shore (Most Valuable Performer)
