Oct. 1, 2008
PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - Looking to continue the success of their 6-0 weekend, The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) women's volleyball team will take on Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) rivals the Morgan State Bears in their home opener on Friday, October 3 and the Delaware State Hornets on Sunday, October 5.
UMES will look to senior setter Christina EstebanÃÆ'Æ'Æ'ÃÆ'ââ'¬Â '© (El Paso, Texas) and freshman phenom Christine Edwards (Lakewood, Calif.) to help them continue their eight game win streak. EstebanÃÆ'Æ'Æ'ÃÆ'ââ'¬Â '© has dominated the MEAC this season, taking four of five Player of the Week honors. She leads the team in assists and aces. Edwards has also performed well for the Lady Hawks. She leads the team in kills with 224 and has 33 aces this season, second only to EstebanÃÆ'Æ'Æ'ÃÆ'ââ'¬Â '©. The pair swept the MEAC weekly awards twice this season, receiving Player and Rookie of the Week respectively.
2007 MEAC Player of the Year Whitney Johnson (Prince Frederick, Md.) has also been contributing, earning a Player of the Week nod earlier this season. In five weeks, UMES has earned the Player of the Week Award all five times.
As a team, the 13-6 Lady Hawks are currently ranked fifth in the nation in aces per set and 20th in hitting percentage. Nationally ranked individually in aces per set are EstebanÃÆ'Æ'Æ'ÃÆ'ââ'¬Â '© (8), Edwards (34) and Samantha Pimental (Corvallis, Ore.) (38).
The last time the 1-16 Bears came to Princess Anne, they pushed UMES to five games and fell 3-2 (31-29, 30-32, 22-30, 30-27, 15-11). EstebanÃÆ'Æ'Æ'ÃÆ'ââ'¬Â '© and Caylin Woodward (Garden Grove, Calif.) each had triple-doubles. EstebanÃÆ'Æ'Æ'ÃÆ'ââ'¬Â '© finished with 11 kills, 28 digs and a game-high 55 assists. Woodward had 12 kills, 22 digs and 10 assists. Johnson finished with a career and game-high 30 kills for the second time.
At the end of last season, the 7-7 Hornets took UMES to five games. EstebanÃÆ'Æ'Æ'ÃÆ'ââ'¬Â '©, Woodward and Johnson each had a double-double in the 3-2 win (30-24, 24-30, 30-21, 24-30, 15-9). EstebanÃÆ'Æ'Æ'ÃÆ'ââ'¬Â '© finished with 55 assists and 14 digs. Woodward had 10 kills and 13 digs and Johnson finished with a game-high 27 kills while tying Leah Amundson (Tucson, Ariz.) with a team high 16 digs.
Conference play begins across the board on Friday night. The Lady Hawks are currently number one in the MEAC Northern Division. But they will need to sweep competition this weekend in order to stay on top. The Morgan State match-up will be October 3 at 7 p.m. and UMES will face Delaware State October 5 at 3 p.m.
