Senior Whitney Johnson and sophomore Zoe Bowens both reached double figures in kills as Maryland Eastern Shore dispatched Norfolk State, 3-0 25-18, 25-15, 25-14), to finish the Delaware State Invitational undefeated Saturday at Memorial Hall.
Johnson tallied 12 kills and three digs with a .500 attack percentage while Bowens had 11 kills and five digs to help the Hawks (8-3) win their fourth consecutive match and seventh in their last eight. UMES did not drop a set on the weekend and hit a solid .372 (43-11-86) against the Spartans, who fell to 2-9 on the season.
Senior Caylin Woodward put together another strong performance with nine kills and seven digs and hit .389 in the win and senior Thonya Joseph had three kills an assist, a dig and three of the team's eight block assists for the day.
Sophomore Rebecca Prado and freshmen Karin Vikterlof and Bella Jade Romero each recorded six digs. Romero also chipped in with 32 assists.
The Hawks got off to a fast start, scoring the match's first six points on the strength of two kills and four straight Norfolk State errors. The Spartans battled back, though, to take an 11-10 lead on a kill by Aurelia Isham.
UMES retook the lead at 12-11 with a Johnson swing and never relinquished it in the game. The Hawks committed only three errors for the remainder of the game in taking a 1-0 advantage.
The Hawks had an 11-3 lead to open game two, a run that was punctuated by Johnson's only service ace of the match. NSU got as close as three at 12-9 on a Bowens attack error, but UMES took control from that point forward tallying the next seven points and eventually closing out the game with a Samantha Chukwura kill for a 10-point win.
UMES built an 11-1 bulge in the third game with the help of five Hawks' kills and six Norfolk errors. The Spartans got to within seven at 14-7 on an Ellicia Morris kill, but could get no closer as they were held to seven points for the rest of the match.
UMES hit a match-best .519 in the third game with 15 kills and one error on 27 total attacks.
For Norfolk State, Elayne Greer, Angie Clewis and Kristen Burt had five kills apiece to lead the team. Nicole Kessner dished out 17 assists and Tracy Copley recorded six digs.
The Hawks travel to the Pitt Blue and Gold Tournament next weekend (Sept. 19-20) to take on Valparaiso, Pittsburgh and Youngstown State.