Oct. 4, 2010
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - For the third time this season, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore women's volleyball team has swept the MEAC honors as junior Zoe Bowens (Long Beach, Calif.) and Maline Vaitai (Salt Lake City, Utah) were named the conference's Co-Player and Rookie of the Week Monday.
The pair helped UMES win the Peaky's North/South UMES Invitational this weekend at the W.P. Hytche Athletic Center. Bowens earned MVP accolades while Vaitai was one of three Hawks named to the all-tournament team.
The Player and Rookie of the Week nods are the second of the season for each as Bowens amd Vaitai, who also captured the awards on Sept. 13. This is the fourth consecutive week a UMES student-athlete has won at least one of the two and marked the sixth and seventh awards for the team in 2010.
Bowens hit .423 for the week, totaling 35 kills on 71 attacks with just five errors. She also had nine digs, eight service aces, one assist and one block assist. Bowens averaged 3.89 kills per game and 0.89 aces per game.
Her best effort of the tournament came in a 3-0 win over North Carolina A&T on Saturday. The 5-10 outside hitter recorded a match-high 13 kills and four aces while hitting .522.
Vaitai registered tallied 25 kills, 19 digs, five assists, three aces and three block assists. The 6-foot hitter averaged 2.78 kills and 2.11 digs per game with a .215 (25-11-65) attack percentage. Her top performance was in the opening match of the weekend against North Carolina Central when Vaitai had 10 kills, seven digs and two aces, hitting .381.
Winner of 10 of its last 12 matches, UMES (11-9) begins MEAC play at home this weekend with a two against Morgan State (Oct. 6, 7 p.m.) and Delaware State (Oct. 8, 3 p.m.).
