FAIRFAX, Virginia – Against a familiar opponent in an unfamiliar environment, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore volleyball program faced a tough loss down to the wire against Morgan State University at the George Mason Invitational on Friday, September 16. The Hawks fell in five sets (23-25, 25-23, 25-19, 18-25, 14-16) to the Bears (1-11) during the non-conference matchup, taking Maryland Eastern Shore to 2-6 on the season.
 
It was a rough start in the first set for Maryland Eastern Shore as Morgan jumped out to a five-point lead following a pair of errors and blocks before the Hawks were able to get a kill by Charlize Williams to stop the bleeding. After letting the Bears get a lead as high as eight points, the Hawks battled back to within a point at 23-24 only to come up just two shorts. Aces were the difference in the set, as Morgan had three to the Hawks one.
 
The second set nearly looked the same for Maryland Eastern Shore, with Morgan grabbing three quick points and an early lead until the Hawks tied it up at 9-9 to force a Bear timeout. The squads traded points to a staggering 14 ties in the set including the 23^rd point but back-to-back Morgan attack errors gave the Hawks the win.
 
After seeing success in the second the Hawks kept up the pressure in the third with six straight points before Morgan was able to grab some footing with a kill. Aided by a seven-point run in the middle of the set to make it 16-7, the Hawks were able to keep the set out of reach and didn't succumb the lead. In the set the Hawks were dominate at the net, collecting a combined four with Derionah Abner and Sydney Morris both picking up one solo.
 
Reception and service errors plagued the Hawks in the fourth set, stalling the progress made in the previous two – four of Morgan's first five points were due to Maryland Eastern Shore errors. Williams and the Hawks got within a point off a serve from Romina Vacca at 11-12 after Shanti Ramdeen was subbed in to serve except it wasn't enough, only scoring seven more points until a service error gave it away.
 
Facing a do-or-die set in the fifth, the Hawks and Bears gave George Mason's Recreation & Athletic Complex a show with 11 ties and four lead changes between the two. At 4-4 the Hawks rattled off three points to give the biggest gap between the two teams in the set at 7-4 but saw it slip quickly as Morgan did the same. Getting the game to 14-14 the Hawks couldn't close it out, with a ball handling error and a block sealed the win for the Bears.
 
Abner paced the Hawks with 16 kills on the evening and Nkemjika Ikemefuna was right behind with 13, Sophia Chacon and Vacca had 27 and 19 assists, respectively. Defensively the Hawks will look to improve on their .856 reception percentage and .905 in their next match.
 
Saturday (September 17) will be a true test for the Hawks after five grueling sets to start the George Mason Invitational, with back-to-back games against George Mason and the University of New Hampshire at 1:30 pm and 3:30 pm. The match with the Patriots will be aired live on ESPN+ and Live Stats available for both with all links on www.easternshorehawks.com
 
Follow the action on Twitter via @ESHawksVBall.