Oct. 15, 2010
Box Score
PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - Freshman Maline Vaitai (Salt Lake City, Utah) and junior Zoe Bowens (Long Beach, Calif.) recorded 15 and 13 kills, respectively as the University of University of Maryland Eastern Shore women's volleyball team stretched its winning stretch to eight with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-21) sweep of Hampton in front of 3,129 at the William P. Hytche Athletic Center Friday.
With the win, the Hawks improved to 14-9 (3-0 MEAC) and won their 12 consecutive match at home to kickoff Hawk Hysteria festivities. Hampton fell to 5-18 (1-2) on the season.
Vaitai added four digs and Bowens four aces for UMES, which tallied nine aces for the game. The Hawks also out hit the Lady Pirates, .284-.208, on the night. UMES had 42 kills and 15 errors in 95 attacks while Hampton countered with 30 kills, 14 errors and 77 errors.
Junior Rebecca Prado (Annandale, N.J.) turned in a solid defensive effort with 10 digs and sophomore Stephanie Sierra (El Paso, Texas) directed the offense well with 36 assists.
"It's great to be off to a 3-0 start in the MEAC," said UMES head coach Don Metil. "We played well at times tonight but lacked a complete game's worth of focus on some points which allowed Hampton the ability to stay in every set.
"Our middles played well and Rebecca Prado came up huge on defense at critical times during the second and third sets,"
The Hawks came out sluggish in the opener and were down by as many as six at 20-14 before rallying to claim the game with an 11-1 run. Freshman Kaveinga Lea'Aetoa (Salt Lake City, Utah) paced the stretch with five of her nine kills.
Despite the slow start, a Hawks still managed a .333 hitting percentage in the game on 16 kills five errors on 33 total attacks.
UMES led virtually from start to finish the middle frame. The Hawks took control of the game on a pair of consecutive Vaitai kills for a 4-2 advantage. UMES extended its lead to as many as five at 18-13 on a Bowens kill and used a Mianna Armstrong error to take the game by eight.
The Hawks held HU to just .037 from the floor in the game and hit .250 as a team.
The final game featured four ties and three lead changes. Hampton hit a match-best .346 but the Hawks were too much. Leading 18-14, UMES allowed HU back into things with a 7-4 run but righted the ship on another Bowens swing, before closing the match with an Aaryn Harrison error.
Harrison had 10 kills for the Lady Pirates and Ivana Saput added a match-high 11 digs.
UMES is back in action Sunday against Coppin State at home at 3 p.m.
