Oct. 6, 2011
UMES Game Notes- UMES vs. Coppin State, Morgan State
Listen live to the Morgan State match on Sunday
The Hawks hit the road to Charm City to play a pair of matches in conference play, starting with Coppin State on Friday at 6:00 p.m. followed by Morgan State on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. UMES has won five straight matches, including a pair against MEAC teams N.C. Central and Delaware State. The Hawks have not lost to Morgan State since 2006 or Coppin State since 2005.
HAWKS SMASH HORNETS IN CONFERENCE OPENER
Allowing just 33 points to their arch-rival, UMES defended homecourt and shut out Delaware State on Tuesday to start MEAC play at 1-0. The Hawks hit .365 while the Hornets were at -.025. Saitaua Iosia hit .650 with 13 kills in 20 attacks with no errors, while Ndidi Ibe got nine kills to hit .500. The second set finished in favor of UMES 25-6, the largest margin of victory in Don Metil's tenure in the 25-point era.
IOSIA EARNS MEAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
After being named the conference's best rookie four times in a row, Saitaua Iosia was hailed as the MEAC Volleyball Player of the Week. Iosia was named the UMES Hawk Invitational Most Valuable Player combining for 46 kills on a hitting percentage of .430 with eight service aces, seven blocks and 16 digs during the weekend. She is the only current MEAC volleyball player with at least three weekly awards.
HAWKS FLYING HIGH ATOP THE MEAC
UMES leads the MEAC in six major categories: hitting percentage (.226), opponent's hitting percentage (.174), assists per set (11.51), kills per set (12.51), aces per set (1.76) and blocks per set (2.13).
BUZZ-"SA"
Saitaua Iosia, who has led the Hawks in kills in all but one match this season, ranks first in the MEAC in points per set at 4.83, 25th in the country in that category, second in kills per set at 4.10 and aces per set at 0.43, leading all conference underclassmen in those categories. In 15 matches this year, Iosia has recorded eight 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 of kills 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 13 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 10.38, totaling 654 in 63 sets, and is the only player in the MEAC that averages double digit in that category.
PRADO 20 DIGS AWAY FROM 1000
Rebecca Prado is just 20 digs away from 1,000 in her career. This season, the senior, who has started at libero for UMES every match this season, has gotten 235 digs, with fourth best in the MEAC at 3.73 digs a set. Prado has compiled 661 digs in a Hawks uniform in addition to the 319 she had at Wagner College in 2008.
CALIFORNIA DREAMIN'
UMES has three players from California on the roster this season, all getting at least 70 kills so far this year. Freshman outside hitter Saitaua Iosia from Long Beach leads the team with 259 kills and has played in every point this year. Zoe Bowens, a senior outside hitter and former teammate of Iosia at Long Beach Poly High School, serves as team captain for the second straight year and has 70 kills with 20 aces. Finally, freshman Victoria Williams from Los Angeles has played in all 16 matches with two starts, contributing 75 kills and 29 blocks. Two-time All-MEAC player Caylin Woodward, who played for UMES from 2006-2009, hailed from Garden Grove.
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 in playing in Italy, living in Reggio di Calabria.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS:
The Hawks start against Coppin State under new head coach Sylvan-Van Norden, who coached South Carolina State to a MEAC championship last season. The Eagles stand at 0-3 in the conference and 3-15 overall. Like UMES, Coppin State is led in scoring by a freshman from California, outside hitter Ariel Richard, who has 185 kills, 27 aces and 141 digs. Middle blocker Selena Weekly leads CSU with 61 blocks, adding 98 kills.
Morgan State is currently 3-14 overall, snapping a 13-match losing streak recently with a conference win over Coppin State to move to 1-0 in the MEAC. On the Bears, no player has over 90 kills, but nine players have at least 25. Sophomore Janelle Wilson leads the team with 88 kills and 48 total blocks. Senior outside hitter Erin Cox has notched 67 kills along with 205 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 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.
PERFECT NON-CONFERENCE 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. UMES's wins over South Florida and Brown were each comeback victories after the Hawks fell in the first two sets. Currently UMES is the only MEAC team that is perfect in road matches.
111 ACES
UMES has earned 111 aces this season and has two players in the top-75 in the country in aces per set after last weekend. Going into their match with Delaware State, Saitaua Iosia ranked 40th in the NCAA with 0.43 aces a game, totaling 26, while Maline Vaitai stood at 75th with 0.38 a set, with 23 on the season. Zoe Bowens, the 2010 NCAA leader in aces per set, had 18 aces for 0.31 a game, 210th in the country. As a team, the Hawks rank 21st in the country, averaging 1.67 a set.
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 102-38 record. He is also 13 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 19 matches in Princess Anne, the Hawks have the 5th longest home winning streak in the NCAA. 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 10/6)
1- Cincinatti 42
2- Nebraska 28
3- Texas 22
4- Ball State 20
5- San Diego 19
5- UMES 19
7- Liberty 15
7- California 15
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.
