Sept. 16, 2011
Final Stats
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Though it took five sets, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore defeated Bryant for the second time 3-2 (24-26, 25-16, 25-17, 17-25, 15-6), led by freshman Saitaua Iosia's 30 kills in the match. The Hawks move to 4-4 and start the Brown Invitational at 1-0, while the Bulldogs fall to 3-8.
In game one, the Hawks quickly built a four-point lead 10-6, including three Iosia kills. UMES maintained their lead up 17-13, but Bryant took six of the next eight to tie the score at 19. The action went back and forth, when at 25-24 Bryant, Kendall Gaffney's ace pulled the Bulldogs ahead by two 26-24 for the set.
The early part of the second set was competitive as the score was tied at eight. UMES went on a 4-0 run, with a kill and block assist each for Iosia and Ndidi Ibe (North Richland, Texas). After Bryant brought the score within two, the Hawks had another 4-0 run capped by an Iosia kill and ace to go up 17-11. The Bulldogs kept fighting and pulled within three, but a final 6-0 run off the serving of Maline Vaitai (Salt Lake City, Utah) finished the second game in favor of the Hawks 25-16.
Iosia led the way again into the third set, scoring the first three points off a kill and two aces. She would add three more kills as the Hawks started the set 11-5. UMES built the lead at 17-9, and despite a late 4-0 run from Bryant, the Hawks finished on their own 5-0 run with two kills and a block each from Iosia and Ibe to win 25-17 and go up 2-1 in sets.
Game four started with back-and-forth play, but with UMES up 5-4, Bryant won the next five points. The Hawks could not get close as the Bulldogs built as high as a nine-point lead and took the game 25-17 to force a tiebreak set.
The Hawks started with a 3-1 lead, with two kills by Iosia, in the fifth set, which Bryant countered with three straight points to go up 4-3. The Hawks regained the lead on a 3-0 run. After a Bulldogs point, Ibe led the Hawks in a 5-0 run with a pair of kills and blocks. UMES won 12 of the final 14 points to take a 15-6 win in the final set and take a 3-2 match win. The Hawks had 10 kills with no errors on 14 total attacks in the final set for a hitting percentage of .714.
Along with joining the 30-kill club, Iosia hit .424 in the match, adding five sets, eight digs and four block assists. Her 30 kills is a season high for the team as she has led the Hawks in kills in all eight matches this season.
Ibe finished with nine kills in ten attacks with no errors, hitting .900 in the match, along with five blocks. Vaitai got 11 kills with six digs and two blocks, while Jessie Vicic (Cambridge, Ontario, Canada) had a season high 51 assists with six digs.
For the Bulldogs, Alexandria Clyburn led the team with 15 kills. Jazmin Stoner had 10 kills with four digs while Maria Scocca had six kills and three blocks.
The Hawks finish the invitational tomorrow with a pair of matches, starting with Brown at noon followed by Fordham at 5:00 p.m.
