Box Score Nov. 11, 2014 Final Stats | Photo Gallery 
PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - The University of Maryland Eastern Shore volleyball team concluded its 2014 season in front of a raucous crowd at the Hytche Center. Unfortunately the visiting East Carolina Pirates spoiled the party, taking the final three sets on their way to a 3-1 match win. UMES finished its season at 11-18 while East Carolina picked up their 13th victory to raise their mark to 13-12.
The final scores for the match were 25-18, 23-25, 15-25, and 14-25.
Three seniors played their final games as Hawks, and each made a contribution. Ksenia Sukhareva (Moscow, Russia) started the match and was able to tally seven kills and nine digs, along with an ace and a block assist. Lauren Berry (Bloomington, Ill.) also registered seven kills to go along with a .286 kill percentage. Berry also made two digs and three block assists on the night. Aleksandra Manolova (Sofia, Bulgaria) was subbed in the fourth set and made two kills in three attempts.
Other top performers for UMES included freshman Alana Polk (Houston, Tex.) who led the team in kills with nine combined with an impressive .533 kill percentage. Sophomore Precious Manu (Carson, Calif) paced the defense with 16 digs while also driving home two aces.
Ashton Mares led the Pirates in kills with 15, followed by Sydney Darden who had 14. Libero Erika Figueroa took home a game-high 19 digs and five different ECU players contributed an ace.
The Hawks came out with a bang in the first set as three straight kills by junior Ashley Smith (Huntley, Ill.) gave a quick 3-0 lead to UMES. Although East Carolina would come back, two more Smith kills and a pair of Manu aces drove the lead back up to 13-9. From there, a slew of Pirate errors and four kills by four different Hawks including freshman Kirstin Fink (Tucson, Ariz.) extended the advantage to 21-12. A Berry kill sealed the set, giving UMES the upper hand early.
However, ECU fought back in the next set while building a 21-15 lead. The Hawks would fight back, benefiting from a couple errors and an ace by sophomore Allison Woods (Magnolia, Tex.) Three kills by Polk and a fourth by Fink cut the deficit to one, but the Pirates used one final kill to tie the match at one set each.
The momentum gained by the Pirates in fighting the valiant Hawk comeback would prove to be too much for UMES in sets three and four, as ECU jumped out to large leads and stayed there, eventually heading back to Greenville with a win.
Despite the defeat, UMES does have plenty of things to be proud of-the arrivals of Sukhareva, Fink and Polk plus a rejuvenated squad combined with the coaching of Toby Rens helped the Hawks emerge once again as a contender in the MEAC Northern Division. Overall the squad took home eight more victories than a year ago, with two more wins coming in the MEAC. Additionally, all major statistical categories improved from a year ago or remained the same. Needless to say, the Hawks have plenty of things to look forward to when they take the court again next fall.
