Oct. 8, 2010
Box Score
PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - Junior Zoe Bowens (Long Beach, Calif.) led all players with 13 kills and three others had 10 as the University of Maryland Eastern Shore women's volleyball team defeated Morgan State, 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-23), at the William P. Hytche Athletic Center Friday.
Reigning MEAC Rookie of the Week Maline Vaitai (Salt Lake City, Utah) collected her third double-double of the season with 10 kills and 11 digs while fellow freshman Kaveinga Lea'Aetoa (Salt Lake City, Utah) and redshirt senior Samantha Chukwura (Brooklyn, N.Y.) each also had 10 kills for UMES (12-9, 1-0 MEAC).
The win for the Hawks is their sixth consecutive and 11th in 13 games. Morgan State drops to 2-14 and 0-1 in conference.
Four players including Vaitai also tallied double-digit digs. Sophomore Stephanie Sierra (El Paso, Texas) had 39 assists and 10 digs to complete her seventh and second straight double-double of the season. Junior Rebecca Prado (Annandale, N.J.) and freshman Jingqiao Li (Beijing, China) were the other two with 10 digs.
UMES held Morgan State to a .132 hitting percentage and hit .255 itself. The Hawks recorded 44 kills and 17 errors on 106 attacks
"We saw an aggressive Morgan team tonight that played well and dug a lot of our attacks," said UMES head coach Don Metil. "It's nice to be 1-0 in conference play; however, we need to regroup if we want to become the best team in the conference. Consistency is a must and we struggled in serve-receive tonight."
UMES jumped out to a 12-4 advantage before the Lady Bears fought back to make the first game close. MSU closed with three at 13-10 on a Lea'Aetoa attack error. Back-to-back kills from Lea'Aetoa and Chukwura restored a five-point advantage and Morgan State then scored four straight, capped by an Erin Cox kill, to make it 15-14.
A Lady Bears' ball handling error gave UMES a 19-16 lead and the Hawks allowed just two more points in the game, which Vaitai ended with a kill from Sierra.
The middle frame featured eight ties and three lead changes. Neither team had more than a four-point lead throughout the game. Morgan State was up, 8-4, in the early going. A pair of MSU errors and kills by Sierra and Bowens knotted the game. The Hawks led, 17-16, on a Bowens kill and extended to a two-point margin on a triple block by Bowens, Chukwura and Prado. UMES didn't give up the lead from there, winning by five.
UMES erased a 15-11 deficit in the third game to take a 16-15 lead on a Bowens kill. The lead changed hands twice more in the match before a Vaitai block sealed the match.
Cox paced the Lady Bears with nine kills and Jourdan Lemons had 30 assists. Dina Beamon tallied a match-high 14 digs.
UMES plays Delaware State at home Sunday at 3 p.m.
