CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore volleyball team got the tough battle it expected from Big Ten foe Michigan State. Despite some success and improved play, the Spartans defeated the Hawks in straight sets (17-25, 17-25, 11-25).
Senior Lucia Babic (Sisak, Croatia) shined in an impressive performance of 11 kills, a .391 hitting percentage, two blocks and two digs. The Shore (0-4) also received fine efforts from sophomore Sola Okesanjo (Chicago, Illinois) and freshman Stella Johnson (Newport News, Virginia). Okesanjo registered six kills in 12 attempts with only one error. Johnson filled in at libero, averaging three digs per set.
"Feeling confident no matter who you play goes a long way." Okesanjo said. "Just because they are in the Big Ten doesn't mean we couldn't battle and play our game."
Overall the Hawks hit .145 for the match and tied the Spartans with six team blocks. The hitting percentage improved from .115 the last time Maryland Eastern Shore battled Michigan State in 2016.
"There were a lot of good moments today." Hawks coach Trevor Callarman said. "We executed our serves and passes, and our middles were a big part of the match. Our play showed that if we are a little cleaner, we can take sets from a Power Five school."
The moment of the match for the Hawks came in set two when they built a 6-3 lead, capped off by a Babic ace. Eastern Shore also battled early in the first set, only trailing 16-14 until the Spartans pulled away with nine of the next 12 points.
"Our middles did a great job. That made their blockers work harder, and that made it easy for me to find holes to get kills." Babic said.
Other top performers for The Shore included 22 assists from junior Ivana Blazevic (Zagreb, Croatia), and three blocks - including a solo - from junior Lidia Chery (Garfield, New Jersey).
Michigan State (3-1) received a match high 12 kills from Alyssa Chronowski and 36 assists from Maggie Midgette. The Spartans used 39 kills and a .397 hitting percentage to win the match.
Maryland Eastern Shore takes on host North Carolina at 1 p.m. Saturday (Sept. 1), followed by their finale in the Carolina Classic - a 4:30 p.m. showdown with UNCG.
