Nov. 18, 2010
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BALTIMORE, Md. - The top seeded University of Maryland Eastern Shore women's volleyball team (19-11), owner of the No. 1 seed in the MEAC Northern Division for the fourth season in a row, begins its quest for its first MEAC Tournament Championship Friday in the quarterfinals versus Bethune-Cookman at Coppin State's Physical Education Complex. A win Friday advances the Hawks to a date in the semifinals with the winner of South Carolina State and Howard.
UMES IN THE MEAC TOURNAMENT: UMES enters the 2010 MEAC Tournament with a record 29-37 in 25 years of competition. The Hawks have qualified for the postseason tournament every season except 2005. Head coach Don Metil has guided his three previous UMES teams to the finals and boasts a 6-3 mark in that time. UMES also has met Bethune-Cookman seven times in the tournament, winning five, including 3-0 in the semifinals last year on Nov. 21.
UMES PUTS FOUR ON ALL-MEAC TEAMS: Freshman Maline Vaitai was named MEAC Rookie of the Year along with being on the All-MEAC First Team, the league announced Thursday. UMES also placed redshirt senior Samantha Chukwura, sophomore setter Stephanie Sierra and freshman Kaveinga Lea'Aetoa on the All-MEAC Second Team. The Rookie of the Year selection for Vaitai marks the third consecutive season a Hawk has won the conference top honor for first-year players. Christine Edwards (2008) and Bella Jade Romero (2009) earned the two previous awards.
UMES, BOWENS LEAD NATION IN ACES PER GAME: As of Nov. 14, UMES leads the NCAA in aces per game, averaging 2.09 while junior Zoe Bowens is tops individual in teh category at 0.67. The Hawks finished first in the category last season (2.54) and in 2007 (2.84). As a team, the Hawks totaled a season-high 15 aces twice this year versus North Carolina A&T (Oct. 2) and South Carolina State (Sept. 25).
CHUKWURA 11TH IN NCAA IN HITTING PERCENTAGE: Redshirt senior Samantha Chukwura is currently 11th nationally in hitting percentage at a .408 clip. She's totaled 220 kills in 424 attacks with just 47 errors on the season.
SERIES HISTORY: UMES and Bethune-Cookman will meet for the 11th time since the 1999 season. The series is tied, 5-5, but UMES has won the last five of six matches in the series. UMES also holds a 5-2 advantage against the Wildcats in the MEAC Tournament, including a 3-0 win over B-CU in conference tournament semifinals in 2009. If the Hawks defeat Bethune-Cookman, they would face either the No. 2 seed in the south South Carolina State or the No. 3 seed in the North Howard. The Hawks lead the series with South Carolina State, 5-2, since 2003. UMES leads the series with Howard, 18-3, since 2002. The Hawks have won 11 of the last 12 matches. UMES defeated Howard, 3-0, at the Kristin Dickmann Memorial Tournament at Navy on Sept. 18 at home on Oct. 22 (3-0), the Bison ended the regular season with a 3-0 sweep of the Hawks at Burr Gym.
SCOUTING BETHUNE-COOKMAN: No. 4 seed in the south, Bethune-Cookman finished with a 7-26 overall and 2-6 in conference. Kaiyana Johnson is the Wildcats' top offensive threat and is fifth in the MEAC in attack percentage at .261 while Jessica Wilson (2.34) averages the most kills per game. Jacqueline Woodyear averages a team-high 3.52 digs per game defensively. Sydney Smith also averages 0.69 blocks per game. Vanessa Cogswell is in her seventh season as head coach and holds a 73-123 record in her time in Daytona Beach, Fla.
SCOUTING SOUTH CAROLINA STATE: South Carolina State comes in as the second seed in south with a 14-22 overall record and was 6-2 in the MEAC. Shabree Roberson is second in the league with a .392 hitting percentage and Jarne Gleaton sits second in the conference, averaging 3.36 kills and 3.82 points per game. Melissa Robinson is sixth in the MEAC in digs per game at 3.02. Bria Brimmer is the Bulldogs' primary setter, averaging 9.07 assists, which is also second in the MEAC. SCSU is coached Sylvan Millicent in her fourth season in Orangeburg, S.C. with a record of 48-85.
SCOUTING HOWARD: Howard, the northern division's third seed, has a record of 8-19 (5-5 MEAC). Tosin Elebute is third in the league, averaging 3.35 kills per game. She's also fourth in points per game at 3.72 while Jasmin King averages 7.07 assists per game (sixth) and Nicole Brown digs 2.75 balls per game (seventh). Head coach Dawn Barnes is in her first season at HU.
UMES 266 IN CURRENT RPI RANKINGS: UMES is ranked 266th in the latest Ratings Percentage Index of the season. The RPI is a tool used by the NCAA to help determine the field for the NCAA Tournament.
