Sophomore Christine Edwards led all players with 17 kills as Maryland Eastern Shore blanked Wofford, 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-20), at the Runnin' Bulldog Classic Friday at Paul Porter Arena.
Senior Caylin Woodward picked up her second double-double of the day with 10 kills and 11 digs, while fellow senior Whitney Johnson also finished with double-digit kills with 10. Freshman Karin Vikterlof tallied a match-high 12 digs and freshman Bella Jade Romero directed the offense with 42 assists.
With the win, UMES improved to 4-2 on the season while Wofford fell to 0-1. The Hawks carried the hot offensive play over from their 3-0 victory against Gardner-Webb earlier in the day. UMES hit a solid .328 while holding the Terriers to .179.
The Hawks never trailed in game one and held a 10-6 advantage on a Zoe Bowens kill. The lead grew to 17-14 prior to a Wofford timeout when Edwards spiked the ball on a Romero set.
After a UMES error, the Hawks ran off the next three points on two more kills by Edwards and one from Woodward for a five-point margin at 20-15.
The Terriers closed the game on a 7-5 roll of their own but it wasn't enough to catch UMES as Johnson put it away with a kill, again assisted by Romero.
Game two was not as close as UMES jumped to a 6-1 lead after an attack error, two service aces and a bad set by Wofford. Terriers then went on a 3-0 run, bookended by a Woodward service error and an attack error by Samantha Chukwura to make the score 7-5.
The teams then traded points until a kill by Edwards to made it 14-10. Once again, the Hawks and Terriers exchanged serves and the score was 17-13 after an attack error by Johnson was the closest Wofford would get.
A timeout after an Edwards kill at 18-13 sparked a five-point run for UMES to go up 22-13. Both Johnson and Wofford's Stacy Byrd again traded points with kills. A kill by Woodward, followed by a kill by Edwards put a nail in the coffin for UMES at 25-15.
The Hawks once again never relinquished the lead after starting up, 2-0, in the third game with a kill by Woodward and an attack error by the Terriers' Rachel Woodlee.
UMES owned a 14-10 advantage after a 4-0 run prior to a Wofford timeout. Edwards, Chukwura and Woodward all had kills in the run and Viterlof also tossed in an ace for good measure.
Wofford cut the margin to four at 19-15, forcing a UMES timeout but the Hawks got back on track, ending the match on a 6-5 skein and with a Edwards kill.
Stacy Byrd had a team-high nine kills for the Terriers and Shanna Hughes led the way with 10 digs.
The Hawks take on the Bulldogs and Terriers again on Saturday, facing on Gardner-Webb at 10 a.m. and Wofford at Noon.