Hawks fall on the road to Howard; Abner reaches 500 kill milestone


WASHINGTON, D.C. - The University of Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks dropped their third straight match in a three-set loss to the Bison of Howard University on Sunday.


The loss drops the Hawks back to .500 with an 8-8 overall mark while falling to 1-3 in the MEAC. Howard improved to 7-9 on the year and 3-1 in conference play.


While losing all three sets by scores of 20-25, 21-25 and 19-25, some Hawk history took place in early in the first set as graduate student Derionah Abner recorded her 500th career kill in a UMES uniform. 


Later in the set and up 10-9, Howard scored six of the next seven points. The Hawks battled to pull within three at 23-20 before a kill by HU's Rya McKinnon and a UMES error gave HU the first frame.


The Bison jumped out to a 10-3 lead before UMES bounced back to pull within two at 15-13. The Bison regained momentum with kills by Cimone Woodward and McKinnon on their way to a 19-13 lead and the eventual 25-21 win.


The Hawks opened the third set with the first three points and maitained a narrow lead at 14-12 before McKinnon gave her team another lift with a kill and service ace to spark a 7-2 scoring run in favor of HU. From that point on, UMES was unable to recover and fell behind by as many as six and lost 25-19.


UMES struggled offensively with a season-low 26 kills along with an .088 hitting percentage. HU recorded 42 kills and a hitting percentage of .292.


McKinnon finished with 14 kills to lead all players. Ranyla Griggs led UMES hitters with nine kills and Abner finished with eight kills. Abner also led all players with 10 digs in the match.


The Hawks will attempt to bounce back this Friday when they host North Carolina Central at 6 pm. UMES encourages fans to arrive early as the University will honor Abner before the match begins.