CHICAGO, Illinois — In a hard fought battle decided by a few points in each set, Maryland Eastern Shore dropped the 2018 volleyball opener to Central Michigan 3-1 (21-25, 25-20, 19-25, 21-25).
"Today was a good match for us against good competition." said Hawks coach Trevor Callarman, who made his collegiate debut Friday. "We showed off some offensive power, and we proved to ourselves that we can fight and we can win. If we manage our errors, these close losses will turn into wins."
The most crucial moment for the new team came in the second set, when they rallied from 20-18 down with seven straight points to knot the match at one set apiece. However, any momentum gained from that achievement was stopped by the Chippewas, who won eight of the first 10 volleys in set three, sparking their road to victory.
Both the veterans and rookies contributed to the match, spearheaded by the two senior outsides and the junior setter. Senior Rachel Kayongo (Northridge, California) delivered a match high 19 kills along with eight digs. Classmate Lucia Babic (Sisak, Croatia) was right behind her with 18 kills and a .292 hitting percentage. Junior setter Ivana Blazevic (Zagreb, Croatia) registered the first double-double of the year with 10 assists per set and 10 digs.
"I felt we got into a good rhythm early and that helped us." Kayongo said. "But we also want to work on putting more pressure on our opponents and find new ways to score. That will help us out during the season."
As for the newcomers, freshman Mauri Carver (Elizabeth City, North Carolina) provided a spark off the bench with seven blocks, including a solo. Carver's blocks are the most for any Hawk debut since individual stats became documented in 2007. The block total is also the most for Maryland Eastern Shore since Mere Serea tallied nine in a match against UMass Lowell on Sept. 1 last season. Stella Johnson (Newport News, Virginia) added three digs in her debut.
"We transitioned well on the block all game long." Carver said. "My pins [on the outside] did a great job setting me up, and that makes blocking easier. There's always room for improvement but today was a great start."
On the stat sheet the Hawks finished with nine blocks to the Chippewas' two. Hitting percentage was nearly identical, with Central Michigan earned a .211 percentage, compared to .208 for the Hawks. The same story applies to digs, where the Chippewas edged the Hawks 62 to 61.
Other top performers included six kills in nine attempts from sophomore Sola Okesanjo (Chicago, Illinois), five digs per set from senior Maja Jankovic (Ruma, Serbia) and 10 digs and an ace from senior Koya Sowells (Missouri City, Texas).
Central Michigan (1-0) used a balanced attack to earn the win, led by Kalina Smith's 15 kills.
Maryland Eastern Shore (0-1) plays two matches Saturday (Aug. 25). UIC will challenge the Hawks at 1 p.m. EDT followed by Bryant at six in the evening. The UIC match will be televised live on ESPN+.
