Sept. 23, 2016
Photo Gallery 
WASHINGTON, District of Columbia - In their Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) opener, Maryland Eastern Shore volleyball were defeated by the defending MEAC champion Howard in three sets (17-25, 16-25, 17-25) at Burr Gymnasium in Washington, D.C. on Friday.
The Hawks fell to 7-9 (0-1 MEAC) while the Bison improved to 11-5 (1-0 MEAC).
Sophomore Lucia Babic (Sisak, Croatia) paced the Hawks with eight kills and nine digs, coming just short of a double-double. Senior Mere Serea (Suva, Fiji) participated in three blocks-one of them solo-and freshman Ivana Blazevic (Zagreb, Croatia) contributed 16 assists while adding three block assists. Sophomore libero Koya Sowells (Missouri City, Texas) added seven digs.
The Bison were led by 13 kills from Khalia Donaldson, 31 assists from Tamia Dockery and 15 digs from Katherine Broussard.
"We had some good moments but needed to be more consistent." Hawks coach Toby Rens said post-match. "I thought Howard played well and kept a lot of pressure on us. We have a lot of room for improvement, but tonight our youth and inexperience got the best of us."
Despite similar final scores at the end of each set, the Hawks battled hard in sets one and three. Thanks to some aggressive play from Babic, a kill from freshman Marta Klafuric (Donja Lomnica, Croatia) and a bevy of Bison errors, the Hawks held the early advantage in set one. However Howard was able to keep the set close with key attacks at crucial situations. The Bison would take control midway thru, building up a lead that was too much to overcome. A four point rally by Howard finished the first set and gave them an eight point set victory.
After the Bison led from first serve to final kill in the second set, The Shore struck back in the third, using a trio of kills from freshman Iva Vujosevic (Bar, Montenegro) to overcome a five point deficit and tie the score. Unfortunately the rally didn't last long and with a kill at the 13-12 mark, Howard took the lead back for good. They would use a 13-5 run to seal the match.
Maryland Eastern Shore returns home to the Hytche Center Tuesday for a 6 p.m. matchup with VCU. Conference play resumes September 30th at Norfolk State.
