Box Score Oct. 6, 2015 Box Score
PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - Originally meant to be played Saturday but postponed due to potential threat of coastal flooding and Hurricane Joaquin, Tuesday's match gave the UMES volleyball team a chance to regroup after dropping three of four to succeed a 10-0 start. With 11 days of rest, the Hawks used an all-around team effort, using every available player, to defeat the Hampton Pirates, 3-0, at the Hytche Center.
The Hawks picked up their first conference victory of the season to improve to 12-3 overall (1-1 MEAC). The Pirates fell to 0-16 (0-3 MEAC).
A pair of early rallies kept the first set tight, but the Hawks gained the advantage around the 20th point, thanks to an ace by senior Petra Jerabkova (Prague, Czech Republic) and a kill from sophomore Alana Polk (Houston, Texas). Several Pirate rallies were thwarted by the Hawks, and a 5-1 rally capped by a kill from freshman Marta Klafuric (Donja Lomnica, Croatia) gave UMES the 1-0 edge.
Hampton led most of the next set and seemed destined to tie the match after they jumped out to a 17-12 lead. But the Hawks stormed back with help in the form of kills by freshman Lucia Babic (Sisak, Croatia). It would take a second furious rally, however, to take the set from behind. Facing a 23-21 deficit, a kill and block for the Hawks tied the set. After an attack error by the Pirates, junior Haley Robinson (Honolulu, Hawaii) put the visitors away with a kill to seize the second set for the Hawks.
UMES rode the momentum of the 2-0 lead to race out to a huge advantage early in set three. Freshman Zuzana Ondruskova (Bilovec, Czech Republic) supplied two aces in a 7-0 run to double up the Pirates at 14-7. Despite a valiant comeback by the Pirates, the Hawks kept the lead on route to a 25-20 set and match victory.
Sophomore Kirstin Fink (Tucson, Ariz.) was the Hawks' most consistent performer with nine kills and a .667 percentage to go along with 13 assists, an ace, three digs and two block assists. Robinson was also a major aide to the cause with eight kills, three digs, and three block assists, while Polk supplied six block assists to help the offense.
For the Pirates, Lena Washington narrowly missed a double-double with nine kills and nine digs.
The Hawks will now look to keep their winning ways in the face of a challenging road trip to Baltimore, as the team travels to Morgan State on Friday evening and Coppin State Saturday afternoon.
