DOVER, Delaware – The University of Maryland Eastern Shore volleyball program avenged a pair of regular season losses to Norfolk State University in a major way on Friday, November 18 at Delaware State University in Dover, Delaware. In the quarterfinal round of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament, the #5 Hawks (9-17, 6-8 MEAC) swept the #4 Spartans (7-18, 7-7 MEAC) in three sets (26-24, 27-25, 25-16) to move on to the semifinals.
 
"Great to get a win in the tournament," head coach Trevor Callarman said. "We had some big performances from a lot of different people."
 
It was nearly reminiscent of the Hawks earlier losses this season in the opening set, with the points staying close throughout with nine ties and two lead changes between the sides. The Hawks held as much as a six-point lead, but the Spartans rallied back to tie the game up at 24 each.
 
Despite the tie the Hawks didn't falter, as Ranyla Griggs and Derionah Abner were able to snag assists from Isil Yilmaz to close out the set, grabbing their third and fifth kills each.
 
"We knew we created enough of a gap to hold off the comeback and we just had to stay focused on closing," Callarman said. "Got a little bit closer than we wanted to, but we closed it out."
 
Norfolk played the Hawks tight again in the second set, once again forcing nine ties, two lead changes and extra points. Norfolk looked to have the advantage at 25-24 until a clutch timeout by Callarman that allowed the Hawks to rattle off three straight points to take the second.
 
Yilmaz's defense was key in the Hawks worst hitting set of the three played on Friday – the sophomore had 13 digs in the set alone, keeping the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in the second despite a poor attack percentage from the offense.
 
"Isil has had great performances all year, it's awesome for her to get one during tournament time, she's a competitor," Callarman said. "She just was seeing everything well today and she was a big reason we were able to put up the scores we did."
 
With the first MEAC Tournament win since 2017 in sight, the Hawks put pressure on the Spartans when the game was tied at ten as Sydney Morris began to pop off with a solo block, a kill and then an assisted block to have the University of Maryland Eastern Shore now up by three.
 
"It's just the epitome of a person showing up at the right time," Callarman said. "She's got the experience, she stayed focused and made plays when we needed her to."
 
The Hawks continued to stretch the lead with Nkemjika Ikemefuna at the service line, rattling off five straight points to make it 19-12 in favor of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Heading into match point, Ikemefuna showed why she was an MEAC All-Rookie Team member, driving home the final kill with a hammer from the left side through two Spartan blockers.
 
Abner led the Hawks with ten kills on the afternoon at a .381 attack percentage, Ikemefuna was behind with nine at a .444 clip and Griggs had eight kills herself. Setting duties were split between Romina Vacca and Sophia Chacon, finishing with 14 and 11 assists, respectively.
 
Some of the best defense of the season was played on Friday, as Yilmaz finished with a career high 29 digs and the Hawks combined for six total blocks, including solos by Soleil Cotton, Morris and Charlize Williams.
 
"Isil had a big day, pins had big days, middles showing up at the right time," Callarman said. "It was a full team effort and we're going to take that momentum into tomorrow."
 
With the win the Hawks head to the semifinals on Saturday, November 19 at 5:30 p.m. against MEAC #1 Coppin State University. The Eagles (22-9, 12-2 MEAC) are coming off a sweep of #8 South Carolina State in their tournament opener and the Hawks will be looking to play dark horse by shaking up the conference after dropping both regular season matches.
 
"Coppin's a great team but they've got some kinks in their armor just like any other team does – it's going to be about exploiting and executing a game plan tomorrow." Callarman said. "We haven't played them at 100% strength yet, so it's nice to be 100% right now going into the match."
 
Coppin took its opening round match against South Carolina State with a sweep themselves, during which MEAC Co-Setter of the Year Andrea Tsvetanova tied the NCAA record for aces in a three-set match with 15.
 
A Live Stream will be provided through the Wilmington University athletics website and Live Stats will be provided by Delaware State University, links for both are available on the University of Maryland Eastern Shore athletics website.
 
Follow the action on Twitter via @ESHawksVBall.