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PRINCESS ANNE, Md. -- With timely points and benefits from errors by the visiting the La Salle Explorers, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) volleyball team secured their sixth straight win with a 3-0 decision (25-23, 25-20, 25-19) on Tuesday night at the Hytche Center.

UMES improves to 17-3 on the season while La Salle dropped to 6-18.

Only one player on either side--Hawks freshman Zuzana Ondruskova (Bilovec, Czech Republic)--totaled double digits in kills with 16. She also amassed a .342 kill percentage, three digs, two assists and a block assist. Fellow freshman Lucia Babic (Sisak, Croatia) registered a .412 attack percentage with her eight kills, and sophomore Alana Polk (Houston, Texas) was once again solid on the front row with six kills and six block assists. Senior Andjela Reljic (Novi Sad, Serbia) supplied 14 digs for the Hawks.

La Salle had two players with nine kills in Kelly Perillo and Bryanna Davis, and Perillo delivered a .273 kill percentage in the loss.

The Hawks screeched out to a 6-1 lead in the first set, but the Explorers battled back to knot the score at 8-8 and 10-10. A back-and-forth battle ensued until freshman Marta Klafuric (Donja Lomnica, Croatia) struck for an ace to give the Hawks a 16-15 edge. True to form, Klafuric delivered two more aces, including the final point of the set, bookending a 10-8 run.

Continuing to build on their edge UMES seized the second set midway thru. A block from Polk and junior Haley Robinson (Honolulu, Hawaii) set the tone for a 7-2 blitz by the home team. In the blink of an eye, a two point edge transformed into a seven point advantage. The Explorers were not able to close the gap significantly, leading to a five point victory and a 2-0 lead for the Hawks entering the intermission.

La Salle looked poised to win the third set when Bryanna Davis delivered two straight aces to give the visitors a three point lead. But the Hawks climbed back instantly with a 5-1 run of their run to tie it up at 14. The Hawks never looked back, and kept the run going, eventually winning the set and match with another block from Polk along with senior Petra Jerabkova (Prague, Czech Republic).

The Hawks hope the non-conference victory will be a stepping stone to Friday's crucial conference matchup with the Howard Bison. First serve is set for 7:00p.m. in Washington.