Oct. 27, 2011
UMES Game Notes- UMES @ Howard
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After defeating Howard in Princess Anne on Sunday in four sets, the Hawks head to Washington D.C. to take on the Lady Bison for a second straight match and for their final road contest. UMES has won 11 matches in a row, including the first seven MEAC contests, and is perfect on the road. Last season UMES and Howard split the matches, with each winning at home in three sets.
HAWKS UNDEFEATED IN THE MEAC
UMES stands in first place in the MEAC Northern Division with an unblemished 7-0 conference record, up three matches on Hampton and Morgan State, both in second place at 4-3. The Hawks have won the seven matches, including five on the road, by a combined set score of 21-2. Only UMES and South Carolina State, currently 5-0 in the Southern Division, remain undefeated in conference play.
IOSIA EARNS EIGHTH MEAC WEEKLY AWARD
The MEAC named Saitaua Iosia the Rookie of the Week for the period ending October 24th for her eighth straight weekly award. Iosia has won six Rookie of the Week awards and two Player of the Week distinctions, while no other MEAC player has more than two weekly honors. This past weekend, the freshman outside hitter combined to hit .325 with 21 kills, four aces and 10 digs, including 12 kills and three aces against Delaware State.
HAWKS FLYING HIGH ATOP THE MEAC
UMES leads the MEAC in five major categories: hitting percentage (.244), opponent's hitting percentage (.157), assists per set (11.47), kills per set (12.47) and blocks per set (2.13). The Hawks also stand at second in the MEAC in aces per set at 1.77.
PRADO MEMBER OF THE 1,000-DIG CLUB
On October 14th against Hampton, Rebecca Prado earned her 1,000th dig of her volleyball career. This season, the senior has started at libero for UMES every match this season, compiling 280 digs for 3.54 a set. Prado has compiled 706 digs in a Hawks uniform, in addition to the 319 she had at Wagner College in 2008, to total 1,025 in her career. Prado is also tied for second in the MEAC with four 20-dig matches.
BUZZ-"SA"
Saitaua Iosia, who has tallied double digit kills in all but one match this season, ranks third in the MEAC in points per set at 4.60, 44th in the country in that category, fourth in the conference and 27th in Division in aces per set at 0.45, and fourth in the league in kills per set at 3.90 and hitting % at .266. She leads all conference freshmen in those categories. In 22 matches this year, Iosia has recorded nine double-doubles.
IOSIA MEMBER OF 30-KILL CLUB
In UMES's five-set victory over Bryant during the Brown Invitational, Saitaua Iosia notched 30 kills, the highest number for a MEAC player in a single match this season, with just five errors for a hitting percentage of .424. Iosia has achieved the four highest kill totals for the Hawks this season, with 25 vs. CSU Bakersfield, 23 at Bryant and 21 at High Point.
VICIC LEADS MEAC 30-ASSIST CLUB
Freshman setter Jessie Vicic is atop the 30-assists club of the MEAC, getting above that mark in 18 matches. Her highest total came against Campbell in the High Point Invitational, notching 56 assists in five sets. She is first in the conference in assists per set at 10.41, totaling 864 in 83 sets, and is the only player in the MEAC that averages double digits in that category.
147 ACES
UMES, which was led Division I in aces per set three of the past four season, has earned 147 aces this season to be 8th in the country. Currently the team has four players in the top-250 in Division I in aces per set. Saitaua Iosia is 27th in the NCAA with 0.45 aces a game, totaling 37. Maline Vaitai has 27 aces, ranking 155th at 0.33 aces a set. Zoe Bowens, the 2011 NCAA Division I leader in aces per set, stands at 216th with 0.3 aces per game with a total of 24. Jessie Vicic also has 24 aces, averaging 0.29 a set to be 237th in Division I.
MIGHTY IN THE MIDDLE
Kaveinga Lea'Aetoa and Ndidi Ibe each stand with 73 total blocks, helping the Hawks get 177 blocks to lead the MEAC with 2.13 per set. Lea'Aetoa sports the second-best hitting percentage in the conference at .305, having 178 kills in 384 attacks. Ibe, just six attacks short of qualifying for MEAC categories, hits .318 with 104 kills in 214 chances.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS:
The Lady Bison are currently in the middle of the MEAC Northern Division in fourth place at 3-3, standing at 4-19 overall. After winning three MEAC matches in a row, Howard has lost their last two contests, including their most recent match against UMES. More than 42% of the team's kills comes from senior outside hitter Tosin Elebute, who has 342 kills, 22 aces, 189 digs and 39 blocks. Freshman Stephanie Shultis has played as a hitter and setter, currently having 105 kills, 347 assists, 16 aces, 102 digs and 36 blocks.
PERFECT ROAD RECORD
The Hawks finished their non-conference slate with a unblemished 4-0 record over tournament hosts, defeating South Florida, Bryant, Brown and High Point. In MEAC play, the Hawks played five straight matches on the road, going undefeated with a total set score of 15-1. Currently UMES is the only MEAC team with a winning road record, standing at 9-0.
BEST OF THE BEACH
Two players from Long Beach Poly High School in California play for UMES this season. Along with freshman Saitaua Iosia, who leads the team in kills and aces, senior captain Zoe Bowens also played for Long Beach Poly. Bowens has played in every match this season with 17 starts, contributing 84 kills, 24 aces and 143 digs.
UMES HAWK INVITATIONAL CHAMPIONS
The Maroon and Grey finished non-conference play in strong fashion with three victories at home over Alabama State, North Carolina Central and CSU Bakersfield to win the UMES Hawk Invitational with a combined set score of 9-1. Saitaua Iosia was named the invitational's MVP while Maline Vaitai earned a place on the All-Tournament Team.
UMES WINS BROWN INVITATIONAL CO-CHAMPIONSHIP
For the second straight weekend, the Hawks were co-champions in a tournament in Rhode Island, taking a share of the title of the Brown Invitational with Brown after going 2-1. UMES defeated Bryant in a rematch and tournament host Brown in five sets while falling to Fordham 3-1. Saitaua Iosia and Kaveinga Lea'Aetoa were named to the All-Tournament Team.
UMES NAMED BRYANT INVITATIONAL CO-CHAMPION
The Hawks were named co-champion of the Bryant Invitational, going 2-1 over two days, sharing the title with defeated opponent Harvard. UMES came back from falling in the first set to defeat Bryant 3-1 to open on Friday. After a defeat against Holy Cross 3-0, the Hawks earned their first shutout victory of the season over the Crimson 3-0. Outside hitters Saitaua Iosia and Maline Vaitai were named to the All-Tournament Team.
HAWKS SOARING PAST PRINCESS ANNE
Former Hawks Whitney Johnson and Caylin Woodward are currently playing professional volleyball in Europe. Johnson, former MEAC Player of the Year, is in Sweden playing for Gislaved V.K. for her second season. Woodward, who previously played for Gislaved V.K., is now playing in Italy with Reggio Calabria S.S.
METIL EARNS 100TH WIN WITH THE HAWKS
Don Metil won his 100th match at UMES on September 30th with a shutout victory over Alabama State. With the Hawks, Metil sports a 109-38 record. He is also six wins from reaching 200 as a head coach dating back to 2002, including stops at Notre Dame (MD), Lees-McRae and Coppin State. Metil's first win in Division I came at Coppin State against UMES 3-2 on Sept. 25, 2005, while his first UMES win came against Coppin State 3-0 on Aug. 24, 2007.
UMES 5TH LONGEST ACTIVE HOME WINNING STREAK
Winning their last 20 matches in Princess Anne, the Hawks have the 5th longest home winning streak in Division I. Their last loss in the Hytche Athletic Center came on Sept. 26, 2009 with a 3-0 defeat from Sacred Heart. In addition, this streak marks the longest in the MEAC. In their match against CSU Bakersfield on October 1st, UMES's 53-set winning streak at home ended.
Team Current Home Win Streak (as of 10/27)
1- Cincinnati 46
2- Nebraska 32
3- Texas 24
4- Ball State 22
5- UMES 20
6- California 17
6- Niagara 17
UMES MATCHES TO AIR ON WGOP
WGOP 540 AM and 100.7 FM is now the flagship station of Hawks volleyball and will air all matches live on the radio this year. Dave Vatz returns for his second season with UMES and will provide play-by-play for each match. Fans can listen online on umeshawks.com.
UMES PICKED TO FINISH 1ST IN MEAC NORTH
The Hawks were chosen to finish first in the MEAC Northern Division, receiving 21 of 26 first-place votes. UMES is currently the four-time defending MEAC North champion. Delaware State was picked to finished second to UMES, while Florida A&M is picked to finish first in the Southern Division over defending MEAC champion South Carolina State.
VAITAI NAMED COBRA ALL-PRESEASON THIRD TEAM
In their annual August preseason issue, COBRA Magazine named Maline Vaitai to the All-Preseason Third Team, being the only MEAC player to receive this honor. Last season, Vaitai along with Zoe Bowens and Samantha Chukwura received All-National Honorable Mention as well as All-East Region Team.
VAITAI NAMED MEAC PRESEASON POY
Sophomore outside hitter Maline Vaitai was named MEAC Preseason Player of the Year by the conference in August. Last season she earned MEAC Rookie of the Year after leading the conference in kills with 407, kills per set at 3.45, points with 476.5 and points per set at 4.04. In addition, senior outside hitter Zoe Bowens was also named to the MEAC Preseason Team with 350 kills and 79 aces in 2010.
