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PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - Looking to snap a three game losing streak, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) was treated to a raucous Friday night crowd as the Hawks hosted their annual Dig Pink game. Unfortunately the Bears of Morgan State ended up with the final celebrations on the Hytche Center floor as they defeated the Hawks in four sets. UMES loses their fourth straight to fall to 8-11 (1-3 MEAC) while the Bears improved to 11-7 (4-1 MEAC) on the season.

For the Hawks, the third and fourth sets treated them better than sets one and two. Knowing their ability to make comebacks, UMES sought to play level after the early points of the match saw the Hawks trailing. They did just that in the beginning of set three before making their move midway through the set. After a kill by freshman Kirstin Fink (Tucson, Ariz.) and two attack errors by the Bears, sophomore Sonia Rosales (Victorville, Calif.) contributed an ace and suddenly a tie score turned into a 16-12 UMES advantage. With the lead rising to six, the Bears made their move to finish off the Hawks in straight sets. However, a wall of Hawk freshmen in Fink and Alana Polk (Houston, Tex.) delivered the key block to win the set by a 25-23 score.

An eleven to five advantage gave off the image that the Hawks might force a fifth set in this MEAC match, but the Bears would claw their way back. Two aces by Morgan and a kill reduced the deficit to three and eventually forced a UMES timeout. Through the midway point of the set, however, the Hawks maintained the edge as the teams traded points. Morgan put the finishing touches of their victory with a 4-0 run to overtake the Hawks by a 22-18 score. Despite UMES forcing several attack errors to draw close, the Bears used one final kill by Zuri Smith to head home to Baltimore with a win by taking set four, 25-23.

While the latter part of the match wound up very tight in the end, Morgan State arranged for the win early with two convincing set wins. In set one, the Bears had 14 points by the time the Hawks had ten, and in set two, the Bears had 21 points when the Hawks hit double digits.

Senior Ksenia Sukhareva (Moscow, Russia) was the lone Hawk with double figures in kills with 12, while Fink's nine was good for second most on the team. Fink ended up leading UMES in digs with five, with Sukhareva and junior Ashley Smith (Huntley, Ill.) contributed four. Sophomore Allison Woods (Magnolia, Tex.) put up two aces, while fellow second-year Hawk Haley Robinson (Honolulu, Hawaii) led the way in blocks with four. For the Bears, Samantha Prescott paced the visitors with 11 kills and eight digs, while Haley McClure earned four points with four aces.

Hampton comes to Princess Anne for the third game of a six game homestand. First serve is scheduled for 3:00p.m. on Sunday.