Eagles Rally to Defeat North Carolina A&T

PRINCESS ANNE, Md. -- Ashley Saunders had 15 kills and nine digs and Alexandria Malesick added 12 kills as Coppin State rallied to defeat North Carolina A&T 25-23, 26-28, 22-25, 25-16, 15-13 on Friday on the opening day of the Maryland Eastern Shore North-South Challenge.

The Eagles, who notched their second win in the last three matches, also received 41 assists and 11 digs from Haley Beechler.

Christina Epps and Vanity Massey each had seven kills for Coppin State, while Yolanda Reid added six kills.

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Hawks Go For Season-Best Hitting Percentage In Home-Opening Sweep Of NCCU

PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - Three players recorded 10 kills apiece as Maryland Eastern Shore defeated North Carolina Central, 3-0 (25-12, 25-20, 25-13), in its home opener, the second match of the Peaky's North/South UMES Invitational, at the William P. Hytche Athletic Center Friday.

After playing their first 17 matches of the season on the road, the Hawks opened their home slate with a convincing win in front of a boisterous crowd, moving to .500 for the first time this season with a 9-9 mark.

Reigning MEAC Player and Rookie of the Week Samantha Chukwura (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Kaveinga Lea'Aetoa (Salt Lake City, Utah) along with freshman Maline Vaitai (Salt Lake City, Utah) each had 10 kills to lead the UMES attack, which hit season-high .375 from the floor. Defensively, UMES held NCCU to a .032 attack percentage in picking up its eighth victory in 10 matches.

Chukwura and Vaitai tallied impressive marks of .467 and .381, respectively, for the Hawks, who had 40 kills on 80 attacks with just 10 errors on the night.

Freshman Stephanie Sierra collected match highs of 29 assists and eight digs and Lea'Aetoa had three of the eight aces for a team which came into the tournament ranked 18th in the NCAA in aces per game (1.85).

For the complete story, visit www.umeshawks.com