LYNCHBURG, Virginia — Senior Rachel Kayongo (Northridge, California) finished with a career high 21 kills, and two Hawks got double-doubles, but the University of Maryland Eastern Shore fell in a hard fought battle to Liberty. The Flames took the match in four sets (23-25, 20-25, 25-19, 23-25) at the Vines Center in Lynchburg Tuesday (Oct. 23).
"The team played with energy and heart tonight." Hawks coach Trevor Callarman said. "Once they found a rhythm, they put a lot of pressure on a solid team. Serving was aggressive and attacking was too. We will build on this for the rest of the conference matches."
Kayongo led the match with her putaways, two more than her previous high of 19. Senior Lucia Babic (Sisak, Croatia) added a double-double of 15 kills and 11 digs, and junior Ivana Blazevic (Zagreb, Croatia) contributed 42 assists and 10 digs for a double-double of her own.
Other top performers included Koya Sowells (Missouri City, Texas), who finished with a team-high 14 digs; a five kill, five dig effort from freshman Alexis Lee (Wilmington, Delaware) and a four kill, three block effort from junior Lidia Chery (Garfield, New Jersey).
For Sowells, the match provided a special opportunity to face off against a former college teammate. That was Liberty's Victoria Baptista, who led the match with 16 digs while adding nine kills. The duo competed together for the Panola Junior College Fillies in Texas.
"It was a very fun game and it was great to play against [Baptista]." Sowells said. "She did a good job as I expected she would. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity and a great competition."
The Shore (6-14) nearly pulled off another comeback, rallying from two sets down to force a fourth set. After losing the first two sets by a combined seven points, they steadily built a lead in the third frame to win 25-19. A back-and-forth affair greeted them in set four, and after numerous lead changes, the Flames walked away with a two point win.
"It was a hard fought fourth set with six ties and eight lead changes. It shows we can push when the opponent is playing aggressive. Now we will work to finish out the close ones and win these tight matches."
Liberty (11-13) earned 54 kills on the attack, led by 13 kills each from Kainah Williams and Jenna Culhan.
Maryland Eastern Shore returns to conference action this Sunday (Oct. 28) with rival Delaware State. First serve will be at 2 p.m. at the Hytche Center.
