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PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - If this year's non-conference tournament schedule is any indication of how the Hawks volleyball team will fare in MEAC play, then we could be in for one exciting season. For the third time this season UMES squared off against a MEAC challenger, and three times they have come away victorious, as they swept the North Carolina Central Eagles 3-0 at the Hytche Center on Friday night.

With the win the Hawks extends their record setting win streak to eight games to open a season.

Offensively it was a team effort for the hometown Hawks who had four players tie for a team high six kills. Of those four, junior Haley Robinson (Honolulu, Hawaii) had the highest attack percentage at .500. Freshman Zuzana Ondruskova (Bilovec, Czech Republic) and senior Andjela Reljic (Novi Sad, Serbia) each tallied 11 digs, and Robinson tallied five blocks, as did sophomore Alana Polk (Houston, Texas).

The Hawks came out storming in the first set, leading wire-to-wire and coasting to a 25-12 victory. An ace from sophomore Ashanti Price (Upper Marlboro, Md.) and kills from senior Petra Jerabkova (Prague, Czech Republic) and Polk finished the set. UMES also benefited from five early kills from freshman Rachel Kayongo (Northridge, Calif.). In set two, the Hawks faced a tougher battle but also led the entire way. A kill by freshman Lucia Babic (Sisak, Croatia) and an ace from Jerabkova helped the Hawks to a 25-17 win.

However the Eagles, seeking to avoid their tenth straight defeat, would not go away quietly in the third set. They led to the midway point in an attempt to seize the momentum from the Hawks. But UMES would rally, tying the game at several junctions. The final set would go down right to the finish, as a service error gave the Hawks an opportunity for a match point. An Eagle kill would force extra time, but Babic delivered a kill and Reljic completed an ace to sweep the match in three.

UMES will play two more times tomorrow, featuring a noontime matinee with the Loyola Greyhounds and an evening bout with the Manhattan Jaspers at 6:00p.m..