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PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - For the third time this weekend the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) volleyball squad defended their home court, defeating MEAC foe Bethune-Cookman (BCU) in three sets in a non-conference bout during the Best Western Wild Weekend. The win gives the Hawks their first record over .500 at 7-6, while the Wildcats fall to 2-11 after sweeping two matches in Princess Anne yesterday.

An 8-2 run gave UMES the one hundered mile per hour start they wanted, and the first set belonged almost exclusively to them. Junior Ashley Smith (Huntley, Ill.) drove the Hawks' offense in the early part of the set with six kills, and senior Ksenia Sukhareva (Moscow, Russia) supplied three more kills in the second half of the set. In the end the Hawks easily finished off the Wildcats for a 25-15 win.

BCU fought hard for a closer match in set two, rallying from an early 7-3 deficit to pull within one at 11-10. A kill by freshman Kirstin Fink (Tucson, Ariz.) thwarted the Wildcat charge and began an 8-3 run to take command of the second set. A service ace by Fink and three BCU errors with Smith at the serve position aided the rally. The set finished at 25-16 with the Hawks on top again.

UMES looked to make even quicker work of the Wildcats in set three, storming out to a 5-1 advantage. But BCU proved they had one more fight left in them by racing back to pull even at 15 points apiece. Two kills by Smith drove the Hawks lead back up to two and after two errors by the Wildcats, Smith supplied an ace to up the lead to four. While BCU tried once more to come back by cutting the lead in half, the Hawks used a kill by Fink and a combined block from Fink and fellow freshman Alana Polk (Houston, Tex.) to complete the match with a 25-21 third set score.

Sukhareva led the Hawks in digs with 12and aces with two while also supplying 12 kills, tying Smith for the team lead in that category. Smith, Fink and sophomore Sonia Rosales (Victorville, Calif.) each supplied an ace of their own. As a team, the Hawks earned a .277 kill percentage compared to BCU's .064 percent.

The Hawks will face Campbell tonight at 6pm in the Hytche Center to go undefeated and earn an outright championship in their own Best Western Wild Weekend tournament.