Hawks fall in five at Coppin State


BALTIMORE, Maryland - The University of Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks came up short in a five set loss at Coppin State on Sunday.


The Eagles earned the 3-2 win (25-13, 22-25, 25-14, 25-27, 15-8) over the Hawks to improve to 12-2 on the year and 2-0 in the MEAC. UMES dropped to 8-6 overall and 1-1 in the MEAC.


After a lopside loss in the first set, the Hawks bounced back and built a 22-19 lead with a 4-1 run. Back-to-back Hawk kills gave them a 24-21 advantage combined with an Eagles  error gave UMES the second frame.


CSU responded in the third by jumping out to a 18-10 lead and cruising to the 25-14 win.  UMES evened the match up at 2-2 in a set that looked identical to the second with nine ties and three lead changes. Down 21-19, the Hawks capitalized on three Eagle errors while Nkemjika Ikemefuna recorded three kills to help the Hawks send the match to five sets with the 27-25 win.


The fifth set proved to be one-sided in favor of the Eagles as CSU jumped out to a 12-1 lead and went on to close the match with a 15-8 win.


UMES hitters struggled to have consistency with a season-low .046 hitting percentage with a combined 42 kills and 25 errors on 152 attacks. CSU finished with 58 combined kills and 27 errors on 148 attacks for a hitting percentage of .208.


CSU was led by TaKenya Stafford's  career-high 21 kills along with six blocks. 


UMES was paced offensively by Nkemjika Ikemefuna's 14 kills. 


The Hawks return home to host Norfolk State on Friday at 6 pm.