PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore volleyball team will play their first match of the MEAC Tournament on Friday (November 19) at 2 p.m. against the North Carolina Central University Eagles. The match and the entire tournament will be played at Burr Gymnasium on the campus of Howard University.

Eastern Shore is looking for their first win in the MEAC Tournament since 2017. In the last two appearances for the team after the 2018 and 2019 seasons, the squad fell to North Carolina A&T.

The Hawks (12-13, 7-7 MEAC) are the No. 5 seed in the tournament. The Eagles are the No. 4 seed with a record of 10-13, 9-5 MEAC. Friday's match will be the third time these two teams face each other this season. They split the first two matches that they played.

"This is the first time since I've been coaching here that we're playing a team we beat during the season in the first round of the tournament, so it's nice to know that going in," head coach Trevor Callarman said. "Now it's about just playing a good volleyball match and staying focused on one match at a time going forward."

In the first matchup, the Hawks swept the match behind senior Marina Cruz's game-high 12 kills. Sophomore Maya Hendricks finished with 13 digs to lead both teams in the category.

When the two teams played each other on Halloween for the second match, NCCU won in four sets. The Shore won the first set before NC Central won three straight. Sophomore Jalynn Robinson had her best all-around match of the season that day with 31 assists, five kills, four aces and four total blocks. Senior Mauri Carver and MEAC All-Rookie team member Charlize Williams had six and five blocks respectively to anchor the defense that day.

The winner of the Maryland Eastern Shore-North Carolina Central match will play the winner of Howard and SC State's match. That semifinal contest will happen on Saturday (November 20) at 5 p.m.