PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland – The University of Maryland Eastern Shore volleyball team rolls into some tough competition at Villanova University at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, August 30.
Coming off a 2-1 weekend in Asheville, North Carolina has the Hawks riding high, while the Wildcats went 2-1 themselves in Kalamazoo, Michigan with strong offensive performances.
High Flying Hawks
It was a solid weekend for the Hawks in Asheville, opening the two-day tournament with a win over the host in five sets and then starting Saturday by taking down Alabama A&M in four. The finale of the weekend saw the Hawks fall in three sets to Asheville, although the odds were stacked against UMES due to the quick turnaround and a fresh Bulldog squad.
Charlize Williams,
Derionah Abner,
Ranyla Griggs and
Nkemjika Ikemefuna paced the Hawks offense over the three matches, each finishing with at least 22 kills – Williams finishing with 30, including a career high 16 in the Friday affair.
Williams currently leads MEAC qualifiers in hitting percentage and blocks per set by stonewalling 14 at the net during the weekend.
Abner and Griggs picked right back off from 2022 with their assaults at the line, finishing with 29 and 27 kills, respectively. Against A&M Abner had 11 of those kills at a .381 hitting percentage.
After being named to the 2022 MEAC All-Rookie Team, Ikemefuna showed why she's vital to the Hawks by getting it done on both sides. The sophomore from Texas chipped in 11 total blocks to go with her 22 kills, also adding 16 digs.
In the passing game
Romina Vacca was on point, averaging 25 assists a match over the weekend, good for 6.25 a set.
Anisa Dorlouis was impressive in her first weekend of Division 1 play, averaging 2.83 assists a set off the bench.
Isil Yilmaz controlled the back line for the Hawks with 44 digs on the weekend, good for third in the MEAC per set in addition to eight service aces that put her in second conference wide. The libero was a perfect 76 for 76 on service receptions.
As a team, the Hawks sit at the top of the conference with 25 total, or 2.08 per set.
Big East Hitters
The Wildcats had a similar weekend to the Hawks during the Western Michigan Tournament, taking game one 3-2 against Northern Iowa and eking out the five-set win against Milwaukee as well. Nova played the hosts well in their opening set of the finale but fell in four to a stout Mustang squad that is expected to finish second in the MAC West.
Villanova was picked to finish seventh in the Big East this fall.
At the forefront of the offense for the Wildcats are outside hitters Abby Harrell and Skylar Gerhardt, both of which finished with over 50 points each in Michigan. Kierra Booth, Madeline Barber, and Riley Homer rounded out the attack with at least 24 kills apiece.
Gerhardt also leads the team with six service aces and Barber leads with ten blocks.
Defensively, Villanova splits the digging efficiently, as libero Elizabeth Feczko leads the team with 53 and three other players have over 20. Setter Andrea Campos added 14 on the weekend to go with her staggering 163 assists in three matches.
How to Follow
Wednesday's match will be streamed live on Flo Sports with a link available on the University of Maryland Eastern Shore athletics website, as well as Live Stats provided by Villanova University. Follow the action on Twitter via @ESHawksVBall.
