SUMMARY

The Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks held off the South Carolina State Bulldogs' comeback effort to earn their second conference victory of the season.

THE SCORE

South Carolina State Bulldogs - 2

Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks - 3

(25-12, 25-22, 17-25, 14-25, 15-11)

HOW IT HAPPENED

For the first two sets, it appeared the Hawks would cruise to victory. Although the Hawks attacked at a .200 clip compared to a -.038 mark for the Bulldogs, UMES ultimately won the opening set by 13 points through making zero mistakes in serve receive and benefitting from eight South Carolina State attack errors. These errors paired with mistake-free volleyball allowed the Hawks to sideout 76% of the time in the opening frame en route to a set one victory, 25-12.

The Maroon and Grey maintained their momentum into the second set through the power of Anjola Omolewa and Ranyla Griggs. With some assistance from eight Isil Yilmaz digs and optimal sets from Jocelyn Torres and Anisa Dorlouis, both Omolewa and Griggs generated five kills a piece in the second set. Despite the fact that South Carolina State started to slowly improve as the game progressed, the Hawks won the battle at the service line in set two, 5-2. Furthermore, UMES committed six less attack errors than South Carolina State in the second frame, allowing the Hawks to build a two set cushion.

The Bulldogs usurped control of the match in the 3rd set. On the contrary to the opening set, South Carolina State was able to sideout 76% of the time, preventing UMES from going on scoring runs. In addition, the Bulldog libero and defensive specialists began to frustrate the Hawk hitters through generating some good passes off of solid UMES swings. South Carolina State, who have not defeated UMES since 2010, outlasted the Maroon and Grey in the third frame, 17-25.

The Garnet and Blue kept their foot on the gas in set four, defeating the Hawks 25-11. 

In the fifth set, the Hawks collected themselves after dropping back to back sets to ice the match, only trailing for a brief portion of the set. With UMES at match point, Nkemjika Ikemefuna drilled a backwards set from Tola Maczka to clinch a five-set victory.

THE NUMBERS

In the two seasons of the Vanessa Faircloth era, the Hawks are an impressive 10-2 in five-set matches.

The Hawks have won 11 matches in a row against South Carolina State. Tonight's game was the first five set match in the series since 2010.

Omolewa tied her season-high with 11 kills.  This is her third match that she has eclipsed double-digit kills this season.

Dorlouis tallied 19 assists against the Bulldogs. She has recorded double-digit assists in all 16 games this season.

Since moving to libero, Yilmaz is on her best streak of the year defensively. The senior finished with 14 kills, which is her second highest mark of the season.

UP NEXT

With this win, the Hawks improve to 7-9 (2-3) on the 2024 season. UMES will look to keep up their winning ways at 1 p.m. on Sunday against North Carolina Central at the Hytche Athletic Center. The match will stream live on the Delmarva Sports Network. 

FOLLOW ALONG

Keep up with the latest from UMES volleyball on UMESHawkSports.com and by following along on Twitter (@UMESHawkVball) and Instagram (@umeshawksvball).