DOVER, Delaware — In one of the more pivotal matches for the University of Maryland Eastern Shore volleyball team this season, the Hawks responded to outlast the Delaware State University Hornets in five sets on Friday evening (Nov. 1).

The scores of the match were 25-23, 25-22, 23-25, 22-25 and 15-11. The Hawks' ninth fifth set match of the season had head coach Trevor Callarman on edge and he was relieved to get the important conference win.

"Thank God we were able to get that fifth set!" Callarman said. "It's tough to lose two straight then come back and win the fifth, but props to the players for hanging in there mentally and fighting a good fight."

In the first set, the Hawks faced a 20-15 deficit. Junior Tatjana Trifkovic (Belgrade, Serbia) had a strong showing on the service line to tie the set at 20. The two teams split the next six points before the Hornets had two straight errors to end the set. The Shore got out to an early lead in set two and maintained the lead throughout the frame to take a 2-0 advantage.

After intermission, Maryland Eastern Shore jumped out to a 13-6 lead in the third set. The Hornets would claw their way back in the match to take the set following an error by the Hawks. Set four followed a similar script as Eastern Shore grabbed a 7-0 lead before DSU came back to tie the match at 2-2.

In the final set, the Hawks once again started quickly. Sophomore Mauri Carver (Elizabeth City, North Carolina) got a kill to make the score 7-1. The Hornets continued to fight and got the score to 13-11, but senior Ivana Blazevic (Zagreb, Croatia) would end close the door after that. The Hawks captain would get a huge solo block and follow that with an ace to end the set and match.

"I yelled leadership to Ivana right before the last two points and we saw how much she wanted to win," Callarman said. "When the game is on the line she is going to step up and she showed a lot of heart tonight."

Sophomore Alexis Lee (Wilmington, Delaware) and junior Ilina Spasova (Sofia, Bulgaria) each had big games on the outside for the Hawks. Lee finished with a game-high 20 kills and Spasova had a double-double with 19 kills and 10 digs. Blazevic finished with a season-high 52 assists and four aces.

The Shore will now travel to Norfolk State on Nov. 8 for their next conference match. Eastern Shore currently sits in fourth place in the MEAC northern division with four matches remaining.

For more information on Eastern Shore Athletics visit http://www.easternshorehawks.com/.