WEST HARTFORD, Connecticut — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore volleyball team went the distance in two matches on Friday (Sept. 20) in the Hartford Invitational. They got a win against the host University of Hartford Hawks and dropped their match with the St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers.

"In the first match we played a little bit tight coming out," head coach Trevor Callarman said. "But it was a learning experience for us because and I was pleased with how they responded to win a tough five set match later in the day."

In the first matchup of the day, the Terriers won with scores of 20-25, 25-23, 25-21, 17-25 and 13-15. They were able to outlast the Hawks in the match that featured 24 ties and 24 lead changes.

The two teams were even through four sets to set up the final set. The Hawks fell behind early in the fifth set before knotting the set at 10. The next six points were split down the middle before two controversial calls went against the Hawks to end the match.

Junior Tatjana Trifkovic (Belgrade, Serbia) had a double-double with 12 kills and a match-high 16 digs. Sophomore Alexis Lee (Wilmington, Delaware) finished with a season-high 17 kills to lead the squad.

In their final match of the day, the Hawks jumped out to a 2-0 lead after sophomore Mauri Carver (Elizabeth City, North Carolina) had a kill to end the second set. Hartford would respond by winning the next two sets to begin the final frame.

Eastern Shore jumped out to a 7-2 lead after a block by Carver and senior Ivana Blazevic (Zagreb, Croatia). Hartford would close the lead down to 14-12 before junior Ilina Spasova (Sofia, Bulgaria) would get a kill to end the contest.

Blazevic finished with 41 assists and tied with sophomore Stella Johnson (Newport News, Virginia) for the team-high in digs with 12. Lee turned in another strong performance as she had 17 kills for the second match in a row.

"We have been hard on Lexi (Lee) because we know she has so much potential," Callarman said. "She is beginning to find her stride and her performances are becoming more consistent."

Maryland Eastern Shore will play Central Connecticut State and Lafayette tomorrow (Sept. 21) at 3 and 5 p.m. respectively. This will be the Hawks second meeting with Lafayette this season after dropping their first matchup.

"We played good team defense late today and we look to build on that tomorrow," Callarman said. "We are also looking forward to the rematch with Lafayette as we have a chip on our shoulder because we want to beat them this time."

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