Final Stats

PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - In the first of four matches for the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) in the Best Western Wild Weekend, the Hawks faced many early tests against a challenging Rider squad. The Hawks passed nearly every mark, including a comeback win in the third set that proved decisive in a four set win over the Broncs at the Hytche Center. The win improves the Hawks to 5-6 on the year while Rider falls to 4-6.

Junior Ashley Smith (Huntley, Ill.) led the offensive effort for UMES with 15 kills in 38 attempts, good for a .316 kill percentage. While Smith led with the most kills, freshman Alana Polk (Houston, Tex.) ended the game with a team high .556 kill percentage, successfully converting five of nine attack attempts. Sophomore Allison Woods (Magnolia, Tex.) paced the defense with twelve digs while also tying for a team high in aces with 3, along with freshman Kirstin Fink (Tucson, Ariz.).

An early start from the Broncs did not deter the Hawks in set one. Despite a 3-0 Rider lead the Hawks rallied immediately with a kill from sophomore Haley Robinson (Honolulu, Hawaii) that tied the score at five. The set stayed airtight thru the midway point before UMES took charge. With the Hawks up two, a pair of kills by Smith and third by Robinson aided a 4-0 run to increase the lead to six at 19-13. Fink delivered two of her three aces to push the lead to seven, and Woods contributed an ace to finish the set, a Hawk victory by a 25-17 score.

Rider would make a stand in the second set. Jumping out to a 6-2 lead, the Broncs never ceded the advantage to the Hawks. The closest UMES would come was a 14-12 deficit before Rider trotted out a 7-2 run to increase the lead by five. Eventually the Broncs captured the set, 25-19.

Set three developed to give the illusion that the Broncs would ease their way to a 2-1 set lead, but the Hawks pushed a comeback that proved to be pivotal. With the score 22-16 in favor of Rider, Smith took the reigns as the server and the Hawks forced error after error on the part of the Broncs. The rally enabled UMES to tie the score. After forcing extra play to decide a winner, UMES turned to Fink, who supplied her third ace to take the third set by a score of 27-24.

Riding the momentum of their 11-2 run to win that set, the Hawks dominated the fourth, led early by senior Ksenia Sukhareva (Moscow, Russia) who supplied a kill to gain the serve and then enabled the Hawks to go on a 7-0 run, assisted by Fink, Polk, and Smith who supplied four separate kills during the rally. Rider would get on the board after that, but with the score at 17-8, the Hawks finished off the Broncs with an 8-0 run, ultimately sealing the win with a tip-over kill by sophomore Precious Manu (Carson, Calif.).

The Hawks will aim to pick up their second winning streak of the season with they take on Binghamton later tonight.