Sept. 18, 2009
Game Notes | Valparaiso Live Audio | | |
PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - The University of Maryland Eastern Shore volleyball team, winners of four straight and seven-of-eight matches, travels to the Pitt Blue and Gold Tournament Saturday to play Valparaiso, Youngstown State and Pittsburgh at Fitzgerald Field House this weekend.
UMES opens the tournament with Valparaiso at 1 p.m. Saturday and follows that up with matches against Youngstown State (10 a.m.) and tournament-host Pittsburgh (1 p.m.) Sunday.
UMES (8-3) is coming off of a solid all-around performance in the Delaware State Invitational last week. The Hawks defeated Navy, La Salle and Norfolk State all in straight sets with senior Whitney Johnson (Prince Frederick, Md.) and sophomore Christine Edwards (Lakewood, Calif.) being named to the all-tournament team.
Freshman Bella Jade Romero (Arlington, Texas) was selected as the MEAC Rookie of the Week for the second time this season for her efforts in Dover, Del., helping the Hawks to the to a perfect record on the weekend. The victory on Sept. 11 against Navy was UMES' first versus its in-state rival since 2003.
In fact, all of the Hawks' wins this season have been 3-0 sweeps. The last set that UMES lost was the fifth in a 3-2 loss at Gardner-Webb on Sept. 5.
Heading into play on Saturday, the Hawks lead the MEAC in several major statistical categories. UMES is tops in the conference in hitting percentage (.279), assists per set (11.28) and kills per set (12.86). The Hawks are also tied for the league high in service aces with 67.
Individually, Edwards leads the conference in points per set (4.60) and is second in kills per set with 4.03. Johnson is second in hitting percentage (.327) and Romero sits second in assists per set at 10.25.
Johnson reached the 1,000-kill plateau in her career with 12 kills against La Salle on Sept. 12 and now has 1,019 total at both Albany (2006) and UMES (2007-present).
Valparaiso (5-4) will open Horizon League action Friday against Youngstown State before heading to Pittsburgh to take on UMES. The Crusaders are led by Angie Porche (99) and sophomore Katie Britton (96 kills). Setter Kim Bukowski has directed the offense with 255 assists and averages (7.55 per set). Though Valpo has won at least 20 matches in seven consecutive seasons under head coach Carin Avery, the 2009 Crusaders have dropped the first set in five of their nine matches to begin the year.
The Penguins (2-7, 0-1 Horizon) dropped their home and league opener to Butler Thursday in what was the 1,000th match in program history. Through Sept. 12, YSU hit just .177 and is led by senior Ruth Boscaljon with 85 kills and a .343 hitting percentage. Youngstown has five -of-six matches heading into the contest with Valpo.
Pittsburgh opened the season 5-1 with wins over Belmont, Wichita State, Kent State, Robert Morris and Buffalo, but has since dropped five straight heading into the weekend. Sunday's match with UMES will provide a trip down memory lane for Panthers' head coach Toby Rens, who was head man in Princess Anne from 2001-03. Rens was named the 2002 MEAC Coach of Year leading the Hawks to a 20-15 overall mark including 7-3 in the league.
The Panthers have lost 15 of their last 18 sets and are led by and Amy Town and Meagan Dooley with 168 and 148 kills, respectively. Allyson Hodnik is averaging 10.10 assists per match.
Follow all the action with live stats and audio (Valparaiso match only) at www.umeshawks.com.
