PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — In another grinder of a match the University of Maryland Eastern Shore volleyball team swept the Morgan State Bears (26-24, 26-24, 25-20) on Sunday (Nov. 11) at the Hytche Center.
Thanks to the sweep Maryland Eastern Shore (10-15, 7-3 MEAC) secured the number two seed out of the Northern Division for this weekend's upcoming MEAC Championship. The Hawks will open the tournament against the South's three seed at 11 a.m. Friday (Nov. 16) at Burr Gymnasium in Washington. Their opponents will either be the North Carolina A&T State Aggies or Bethune-Cookman Wildcats, determined by a tiebreaker.
Morgan State (13-14, 5-5 MEAC) will also be represented in the tournament as the North's number four seed. They will challenge Florida A&M in the quarterfinals. Should the Hawks advance out of the quarters, they will face the victor of that match.
For Sunday's match, senior Lucia Babic (Sisak, Croatia) averaged 6.67 kills per set for a grand total of 20. Babic also hit .359 for the match, a team high. Rachel Kayongo (Northridge, California) contributed his second double-double of the season with 12 kills and 10 digs, and Koya Sowells (Missouri City, Texas) added 10 digs of her own. All three played their final home matches as Hawks.
Prior to the start The Shore also honored Maja Jankovic (Ruma, Serbia) and Kendra Day (Hagerstown, Maryland). Both players have been sidelined with injuries this season.
The Hawks were also aided by 37 assists from junior Ivana Blazevic (Zagreb, Croatia) and nine digs from freshman Stella Johnson (Newport News, Virginia).
Both sets one and two were tied at the 20-20 mark. The Shore jumped out to the early lead in set one before the Bears rallied. A Kayongo block forced set point at 24-22 but Morgan countered to force extra time. Following a service error, freshman Alexis Lee (Wilmington, Delaware) delivered a final kill for the 1-0 match lead.
It appeared as if Morgan State would tie the match during set two, leading 24-21. But the Hawks turned the tide with five consecutive points, spearheaded by three Babic kills. From there, the sailing was relatively smooth. Eastern Shore raced out to a 17-9 lead and held off a couple late Morgan charges to sweep.
The two teams split the season series after Morgan State defeated the Hawks on October 14th in Baltimore.
More details regarding the Hawks' postseason run will be released in the next few days.
