Senior outside hitter Whitney Johnson tallied a match-high 11 kills as the University of Maryland Eastern Shore volleyball team cruised to a straight-set (25-10, 25-17, 25-12) non-conference victory over North Carolina A&T in the Tribe Invitational at Kaplan Arena Friday.
Sophomore Christine Edwards added nine kills and senior Caylin Woodward had a match-best seven digs to move the Lady Hawks to 1-0 on the season. The Aggies dropped to 0-1 with the loss.
Freshman setter Bella Jade Romero directed the offense with 29 assists in her UMES debut.
"It was a good way to open the 2009 season," said third-year head coach Don Metil. "It's nice to get a win and more importantly, we already have match experience and match data to start making adjustments and changes to improve the next time we go out."
The Lady Hawks jumped out to a 13-5 lead in the first game and forced North Carolina A&T to take a timeout after an Aggies' error.
UMES made it 16-6 on consecutive kills by Edwards and redshirt junior Samantha Chukwura and a service ace from sophomore Rebecca Prado.
The lead grew to 24-9 as UMES scored six straight points punctuated by a kill from Johnson. Romero closed the game on a kill from Romero.
UMES had an 11-6 advantage in game two when, coming out of a timeout, Edwards recorded a kill for a six-point bulge. At 20-14, UMES ran off three points in a row finished off by another A&T attack error.
The Lady Hawks benefitted from to two more errors to take a two-game lead.
Game three was much of the same as UMES continued to control play. UMES went on a 7-0 run to make it 16-7 on an Edwards ace and forced another Aggies' timeout. The Hawks rolled to the win from there, closing out the match in a tidy 1:10.
Tiffany Millette and Janae Mitchell each had a team-high four kills for the Aggies while Mitchell also led the team with five digs.
North Carolina A&T won the blocking battle, 6.0-1.0.
UMES faces William & Mary Friday at 7 p.m.