Box Score

PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - The last time UMES achieved a 4-0 start was in 2003, the year current Hawks head coach Toby Rens led the team to a then-record 26 wins in his first go-around in Princess Anne. However, UMES had never started a season 5-0-until this year. That's because the 2015 edition of the Hawks finished off Quinnipiac 3-0 at the Hytche Center Friday night to take their first five matches of the season.

Additionally, the victory gives UMES a five-game win streak of any variety for the first time since the 2012 squad won 14 in a row on their way to a MEAC championship.

Freshman Zuzana Ondruskova (Bilovec, Czech Republic) was the lone Hawk to tally double digits in kills with 12. She was barely edged by fellow first year player Rachel Kayongo (Northridge, Calif.) with a .389 kill percentage among primary attackers. Senior Andjela Reljic (Novi Sad, Serbia) reached double digit digs with 13 to go along with four aces, and sophomore Alana Polk (Houston, Texas) contributed on six blocks, one of them solo.

Consistency was the name of the game for the Hawks on Friday night. In each of the three sets UMES took the advantage around the midway point and finished off the Bobcats each time. As a matter of fact the Hawks were so consistent, each set ended in a 25-19 final score.

Kills by senior Petra Jerabkova (Prague, Czech Republic) and Ondruskova gave the Hawks a 4-0 rally in the first set, and the Bobcats would only tie it from there. A Kayongo kill completed the set win. In the second set UMES took a 3-0 lead and never conceded the edge to the visitors. Junior Haley Robinson (Honolulu, Hawaii) and Ondruskova brought home a block to seal the set.

In the third and final set the Hawks benefited from some Bobcat errors which broke the early deadlocks. After UMES led 9-8, Quinnipiac never took the lead again. One more time Robinson punched in a kill to give her team the match.

A doubleheader awaits the team tomorrow as they hope to further advance their school-best start. UMES will face Delaware State at noon and North Carolina A&T at six in the evening. Tickets are still available for day two of the tournament.