Nov. 20, 2009
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BALTIMORE, Md. - Senior Whitney Johnson (Prince Frederick, Md.) recorded a match-high 11 kills leading the No. 1 seeded University of Maryland Eastern Shore volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-14, 25-11, 25-18) victory over fourth-seeded Norfolk State in the quarterfinals of the MEAC championship at Coppin State's Coppin Center Friday.
The win for UMES (23-6) is its 14th consecutive as the Hawks move on to the semifinals to face second-seeded Bethune-Cookman Saturday at noon.
"I thought we bought into and executed our game plan while getting the matchups we wanted," said UMES head coach Don Metil. "Offensively, we took care of the ball which allowed us to sideout quickly after errors."
The Hawks limited the Spartans (9-22) to a -.080 hitting percentage on the day while hitting .382 themselves. UMES had 34 kills with just eight errors on 68 total attacks.
Senior Caylin Woodward (Garden Grove, Calif.) and sophomore Christine Edwards (Lakewood, Calif.) had each six kills. Edwards also led the team with six digs and three of the UMES' seven service aces.
Freshman Bella Jade Romero (Arlington, Texas) had a match-best 28 assists in the win.
The Hawks led, 13-9, in the first game when Norfolk State burned its first timeout. UMES reeled off five of the next seven points to take an 18-11 advantage with the help of a pair of Edwards' kills..
Johnson ended the game with a kill to give UMES a 1-0 advantage.
The Hawks built a 9-2 lead in the second game and forced another NSU timeout on an ace by freshman Karin Vikterloff (Orebro, Sweden).
UMES allowed just nine more points the rest of the game, cruising to the victory.
The Spartans held a 7-3 lead in the third game on three straight UMES errors and a Solange Honore ace.
UMES battled back, though, to retake control at 13-12 on an Angie Clewis error. The Hawks didn't relinquish the lead the rest of the day on the way to the sweep.
The Spartans were led by Aurelia Isham, Clewis, Charlotte Armstead, Chynna Blaker, who had four kills apiece. Nicole Kessner had 14 assist and seven digs for NSU.
