HACKENSACK, New Jersey — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore earned its first road NEC win of the season with a highly contested 3-1 win against the FDU Knights. Twice the teams went into extra points in the four-set match, with the Hawks capping the match win with a 29-27 Set 4 win. 

The Score 

Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks (15-10, 5-5 NEC) - 3 

FDU Knights (13-10, 7-3) - 1 

(25-19, 27-29, 25-20, 29-27) 

How It Happened 

The Hawks drew the first point of the match on an Andre Mills kill before FDU pulled ahead for a short time at 5-2. From there, UMES stormed into the lead on a 9-2 run with Mills getting a kill before adding a pair of service aces to kickstart the offensive momentum for the Hawks while taking a 12-7 lead. Though the Knights cut the lead to two at 14-12, it was the closest the Hawks allowed FDU to get as UMES closed the door on the hosts with an 11-7 run capped by a Kenyon Haynes service ace to take Set 1, 25-19. 

UMES earned the first point of the second set, but the early goings were a back-and-forth battle for momentum. The Hawks pulled ahead midway through the set with a 6-1 run started by a Tristan Rowley kill to take a 10-7 lead. The score remained knotted through the remainder of the set before UMES pushed to set point on a kill from Chase Valentine, 24-22. FDU, however, knotted the score up and the pair played into extra time as each point was matched by the opposition as Rowley notched a pair of kills to keep UMES in contention before the Knights took Set 2, 29-27. 

Resetting quickly, UMES jumped into the fray of the third set and pushed into the lead, 9-5, on a 5-1 run highlighted by kills from Mills and Marcellus Owens, a combo block by Rowley and Valentine, and a service ace by Owens. Though FDU brought the score close through the middle of the set, UMES took complete control of the end of frame with an 8-1 run punctuated by a final kill from Valentine to give the Hawks the 25-20 set win and 2-1 lead in the match. 

The fourth set got off to another UMES lead with Mills going up for the kill before the Hawks took a 4-2 lead to start the set behind a FDU service error and kills from Joshua Hightower and Valentine. Much like the rest of the match, neither side relented as neither side managed more than a two-point margin for a lead for the entirety of the set. FDU reach set point first, though at a 25-24 score. A block from Hightower and Tavion Ford leveled the score at 25 before Valentine came up big for the Hawks to level the score at 26 with a kill and Mills repeated the feat with another kill to tie the score at 27. The Hawks then forced a pair of attacking errors on the FDU side to close the set, 29-27, and take the match, 3-1. 

The Numbers 

• Andre Mills led the offensive charge through four sets for the Hawks with a team-high 17 kills while adding two service aces, two blocks, eight digs and an assist on the day. For Mills, the 17 kills is his second-best total in a match this season since opening the year with 20 against Puerto Rico – Rio Piedras. 

• Joshua Hightower and Chase Valentine each notched 12 kills for UMES as Valentine maintained a 50% hitting mark with Hightower hitting at 40% for the match. Hightower also recorded seven digs through the match. 

• UMES notched 13.0 total blocks to FDU's 7.0. Chase Valentine led the Hawks with a solo block and seven block assists. The eight total blocks for Valentine sets a career-high for the freshman middle blocker. 

• Marcellus Owens and Kenyon Haynes each recorded solo blocks while Haynes added four block assists while Joshua Hightower added three block assists. 

• Tristan Rowley was the fourth Hawk to notch a double-digit mark in kills with 11. 

• Setter Kenyon Haynes led the team in assists, marking his season-high with 50 while hitting double digits while leading the team in digs with another season-high for him with12. 

• The UMES liberos notched eight digs as Jarrett Key totaled seven and Jordan Brockman added another one. 

Up Next 

The Hawks return home to close the regular season against Manhattan with a 6 p.m. match on Friday, April 17, and Senior Day at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 18. 

Follow Along 

Keep up with the latest from UMES men's volleyball on UMESHawkSports.com and by following along on X (@UMESHawksMVB) and Instagram (@umeshawksmvb).