DOVER, Delaware — In a tidy hour and 11 minutes, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore volleyball team swept their rivals from Delaware State (25-13, 25-16, 25-11) Friday (Sept. 28) at Memorial Hall in Dover.
Maryland Eastern Shore (4-11, 1-0 MEAC) earned the sweep in large measure to their best offensive showing in years. The Hawks hit .492 for the match, their highest percentage since October 26, 2008 - a .524 effort against Hampton. In set one they hit .727 - 16 kills on 22 attempts - matching a mark last seen on October 5, 2012 against Coppin State. When all was said and done Eastern Shore tallied 36 kills with just five errors.
"Tonight's win was a great representation of our team." Hawks coach Trevor Callarman said. "Everyone executed our scouting report, and we look forward to more matches like this. I'd also like to give special shoutout to our middles Sola and Mauri on a great effort."
Sophomore Sola Okesanjo (Chicago, Illinois) finished with four kills over eight attempts and freshman Mauri Carver (Elizabeth City, North Carolina) completed four kills in seven attempts. Carver added three digs and three aces. Both players ended with four blocks, including a solo from Okesanjo. Thanks to their efforts the Hawks out blocked the Hornets nine to one.
"The two weeks off helped us prepare for this match." Okesanjo said. "We worked on blocking in practice, and that plus a lot of other points transferred over."
Another big help on the block came from senior Lucia Babic (Sisak, Croatia), who led the team with five assists. Babic also led the match with 15 kills and a .700 attack percentage. Her career total of 1,077 kills now stands fourth in program history, passing Maline Vaitai.
The Shore also received 28 assists and three aces from junior Ivana Blazevic (Zagreb, Croatia) and a match high eight digs from senior Koya Sowells (Missouri City, Texas).
"In practice, we focused on everyone's individual strength." Carver said. "That paid off tonight. We are more dynamic as a team that way. I did my job to help the team, and everyone else did theirs."
Delaware State (2-16, 0-1 MEAC) received six kills apiece from Mayah Ngundam and Kiera Holtzclaw.
Maryland Eastern Shore returns to the Hytche Center for two matches next weekend. They will battle Norfolk State on Friday (Oct.5) and Howard on Sunday (Oct. 7). Tickets are available online at umestickets.com.
