BALTIMORE, Maryland - Before a raucous crowd of 2,548 on Friday evening (Oct. 13), the Maryland Eastern Shore volleyball squad found themselves behind two sets to one, in danger of losing their first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) match of the season. But the Hawks rallied to take the fourth set before earning the victory in five sets (21-25, 25-19, 23-25, 27-25, 15-10) over Morgan State.

The Shore (18-6, 5-0 MEAC) were led on the attack by Rachel Kayongo (Northridge, California) with 15 kills and a .458 kill percentage. Iva Vujosevic (Bar, Montenegro) and Lucia Babic (Sisak, Croatia) continued their strong season with double-doubles. Vujosevic earned 12 kills and 11 digs while Babic earned 10 kills and 10 digs.

Carolina Machado (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Ivana Blazevic (Zagreb, Croatia) split setting duties as the duo combined for 44-Machado with 23 and Blazevic with 21. Maja Jankovic (Ruma, Serbia) added 11 digs.

The Hawks tallied nine blocks with an impressive eight solos, split evenly between four players at two apiece-Mere Serea (Suva, Fiji), Alana Polk (Houston, Texas), Sola Okesanjo (Chicago, Illinois) and Babic.

Morgan State (2-15, 1-3 MEAC) received 21 kills from Cristen Coryatt and 13 digs from Jasmin Hubbard, both match highs.

Each team used scoring runs at the midway point of sets one and two, splitting the early part of the match. The Hawks maintained small leads for much of the third set but the Bears scored four of the final five points to win 25-23.

A 2-1 match lead safely theirs, Morgan State tried to overwhelm the Hawks early with a 5-0 run in set four. However The Shore rallied quickly, tying the set almost as quickly as the Bears amassed their lead. Both squads battled tightly from then on, and Morgan came within two points of the victory at the 23-20 mark. But two kills by Serea and an attack error by the Bears drew the set level at 24. A Vujosevic ace and two more Bear errors allowed the Hawks to then draw the match level at two sets each.

In the crucial fifth set The Shore gained control on a 4-0 run, capped off by an ace from Eva Valentova (Ceske, Czech Republic). Two Vujosevic kills later in the set helped the Hawks maintain their lead, eventually winning by five points to take the match.

Maryland Eastern Shore returns to the court next Thursday (Oct. 19) when they visit the Hampton Pirates in Virginia.