Box Score Sept. 13, 2014 Final Stats
GREENSBORO, N.C. - The final and championship match of the Aggie-Spartans Invitational featured a battle between the two heavyweights of the four team tournament. In the end, the host UNC-Greensboro (UNCG) Spartans proved their might with a 3-0 victory over the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) Hawks to earn the tournament championship. UMES finished runners up in the tournament winning two games out of three. A seesaw affair was engaged in by both teams in the first set. The Spartans marched out to a 4-0 lead before the Hawks were able to rally to even the score at six thanks to a kill by freshman Kirstin Fink (Tucson, Ariz.). When UNCG drove the score back up to 15-10, UMES fought back again with a 6-1 run culminating in an ace from sophomore Precious Manu (Carson, Calif.). However the Spartans rose to the challenge a third time, and that proved to be too much for the Hawks who dropped the set by a 25-20 score.
UNCG forced the Hawks into an early hole once again in the second set, and the Hawks made an early comeback effort by taking advantage of some Spartans errors. The comeback would be short-lived as UNCG grabbed the lead for good for an imbalanced 25-13 decision.
With a 6-0 start out of the gate in set three, the Spartans made a push to knock out the Hawks quickly and efficiently, eventually pushing the lead to 11-3 and force a UMES timeout. But the Hawks would have one last fight in them, when on a play served by senior Ksenia Sukhareva (Moscow, Russia), the team pushed the deficit back down to four at 17-13 UNCG. Unfortunately that would be as close as the Hawks would get, dropping the set and match by a 25-18 score.
Sukhareva paced the Hawks in the stats department with 11 kills and 10 digs. Sophomore Allison Woods (Magnolia, Tex.) led the Hawks with 11 digs, and both Manu and junior Ashley Smith (Huntley, Ill.) contributed one ace each.
Overall, the tournament brought many positives for the Hawks. The team past their 2013 win total with the victory over Alabama A&M and also with that win came the team's first winning streak since November 16-18, 2012, when the Hawks swept thru the MEAC tournament en route to the NCAA tournament. With the 2-1 record over the weekend the Hawks' record improved to 4-6 this season.
UMES resumes its season on Friday in Princess Anne for the Best Western Wild Weekend. Their first of four matches over the two-day tournament will be against the Rider Broncs at 1pm.
