PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland – The University of Maryland Eastern Shore volleyball team heads to Washington, DC on Tuesday, October 4 for its final out of conference game of the season at American University. First serve is set for 4 p.m.
The Hawks will be looking to bounce back from three straight conference losses and the Eagles will be tough at home as they sit at 7-1 at Bender Arena.
Checking In on Hawks
Currently Maryland Eastern Shore (2-11, 0-3 MEAC) is on an eight-game skid and looking for its first road victory of the season against the Eagles (9-8, 2-4 Patriot). Most recently the Hawks hosted Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference rival Delaware State on Thursday, September 29 and lost 0-3 to the Hornets.
Charlize Williams has been one the best players in the conference, placing in the top ten in hitting percentage (9
th, .258) and blocks per set (2
nd, .98). The sophomore has had a solo or assisted block in each match this season.
Freshman
Valeria Matias has been one the key defenders for the Hawks, moving between the libero and defensive specialist positions, and ranking seventh in the conference with 3.14 digs per set.
Isil Yilmaz has been sliding into the libero spot the last few games, with ten digs each against Howard and Delaware State.
Setting up the squad has been mostly
Sophia Chacon this fall, leading the team with 267 assists, and
Romina Vacca has been working into the offense at second with 146 assists.
The Hawks will need to improve at the service line as it gets deeper into the year, being outgunned 1.34 to 2.54 aces per set and just sitting at a .869 reception percentage.
Eyeing the Eagles
American has put together a strong season at home, going 7-1 in their contests with the only loss coming 2-3 this past Saturday (October 1) against an 11-4 Bucknell squad. The teams have seen similar opponents in George Mason and Morgan State, both wins for the Eagles, and have Coppin State on the schedule – a 3-1 win for American.
At the net the Hawks will need to be weary of Zeynep Uzen, her 245 kills rank first in the Patriot League and she is averaging 4.15 per set. Adelina Berisha is also a dangerous weapon, averaging 3.03 kills per set. While Uzen and Berisha grab the kills for the Eagles, Inbal Peleg runs the offense with 412 assists, good for 7.92 per set.
Up front on defense Carile Fikse has 56 blocks and Onuchi Ndee is averaging nearly one per set at .95. Fiske leads the team with 11 solo and has committed just three errors. On the back-end Bridget Javitch, Rachael Bennett, Uzen, Peleg and Maya Mrus all have over 100 digs to spread out the effort.
How to Watch
The game will be air live on ESPN+ and Live Stats will be available to follow, links for both are accessible on
www.easternshorehawks.com.
Follow the action on Twitter via @ESHawksVBall.
