WEST HARTFORD, Connecticut — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore volleyball team fell to the Central Connecticut State University Blue Devils and Lafayette College Leopards on Saturday (Sept. 21) in the final day of the Hartford Invitational.
Maryland Eastern Shore fell to CCSU in four sets (15-25, 19-25, 25-21 and 24-26) and Lafayette in five sets (25-23, 14-25, 12-25, 25-19 and 12-15). Their match with the Leopards was Eastern Shore's third five set match of the weekend.
The Hawks dropped the first two sets against Central Connecticut before responding in the third. Eastern Shore would get out to an early lead in the set and were able to stave off a rally from the Blue Devils to secure the win following a kill from junior Ilina Spasova (Sofia, Bulgaria).
The fourth set featured 10 ties and lead changes. Each team traded runs throughout the frame. Maryland Eastern Shore held a 24-23 lead after sophomore Mauri Carver (Elizabeth City, North Carolina) got a kill. Central Connecticut would respond and get the last three points of the set to end the match.
Spasova led the team in kills with 11 in the match. Sophomore Stella Johnson (Newport News, Virginia) finished with a game-high 22 digs.
In match number two, the Hawks won the first set before dropping the next two. They would rebound in the fourth and win after sophomore Alexis Lee (Wilmington, Delaware) got one of her career-high 25 kills to end the set. Eastern Shore would fight throughout the fifth set, but Lafayette was able to keep the Hawks at bay to survive the marathon match and win the tournament.
Spasova had a season-high 18 kills in the contest. Sophomore Tijana Korosec (Belgrade, Serbia), who got the start at setter in place of senior Ivana Blazevic (Zagreb, Croatia), turned in a career-high 45 assists.
"Tijana really helps us change up our offense," head coach Trevor Callarman said. "That will be important for us in conference play because she can change our style of play at times late in matches which will be beneficial."
The Shore will now head into MEAC play for the rest of the season. Their first conference matchup will be this Friday (Sept. 27) at Morgan State.
"We are definitely going to be one of the more battle tested teams as we head into conference play with all of the five set matches we have played," Callarman said. "That is going to help us stay focused throughout as we start with Morgan who has a very good team so we have to be well prepared."
For more information on Eastern Shore Athletics visit http://www.easternshorehawks.com/.
