EAGLES DEFEAT COPPIN STATE; FINISH 1-2 ON THE WEEKEND
Freshman Jzima-Malaki Kalao took home All-Tournament Team honors
PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - The offensive struggles continued for North Carolina Central (4-18) this weekend as they finished the UMES Hawk Invitational with a 1-2 mark, while freshman setter Jzima-Malaki Kalao locked in her third All-Tournament Team honor with 81 assists and 14 digs.
NCCU opened tournament play on Friday with Maryland Eastern Shore. Just like their previous meeting, the host swept the Eagles in three straight sets by scores of 25-12, 25-20 and 25-13. The Hawks jumped to .500 on the season for the first time this year as they took a 9-9 mark, while the Eagles fell to 3-17.
The Eagles managed to put the loss behind them and they bounced back Saturday morning to open day two action with a sweep over Coppin State, defeating the Eagles 25-19, 25-23 and 28-26. It was a tough battle that saw 16 tie scores and three lead changes, but NCCU pushed past Coppin State to improve to 4-17 on the year. The Coppin State Eagles dropped to 2-13 on the season with the loss.
Unfortunately, the Eagles couldn't finish the tournament with the momentum on their side as Hampton, once again, gave the Eagles all they could handle as they defeated NCCU for the third straight time this season by scores of 25-22, 25-22 and 25-20. Hampton improved to 4-16 with the win, while NCCU dropped to 4-18.
Senior outside hitter Belinda Behncke-Biney hit a .209 with a team-high 31 kills to anchor the Eagle offense. The Hamburg, Germany, native not only contributed on the net offensively, but she made an impact on all areas of the floor with five service aces, 18 digs and two blocks. She also notched her third double-double of the season with 18 kills and 12 digs in the Eagles' victory over Coppin State this morning.
Maritsann Sinclair, the junior from Kingston, Jamaica, continues to surprise Eagle fans as she put on another outstanding performance for the second straight weekend. She recorded a .200 hitting percentage with 24 kills, while collecting 12 digs and four blocks. Against Coppin State, Sinclair notched her second double-digit kill performance of the year with 15 kills. She was Behncke-Biney's offensive counterpart.
NCCU's middle dominated on both sides of the net this weekend as the powerful duo of Sashalee Wallen and Tasha-Gaye Richards showed strength and power for the Eagles. Wallen and Richards totaled 12 kills apiece with each of them hitting above .300. Wallen controlled the Eagles' blocking game with a team-high nine blocks, while collecting eight digs. Richards added six blocks, while freshman Kalin Russell contributed eight.
Anchoring the Eagles' defense was junior Raven King with a team-high 21 digs, including 11 digs against Coppin State. King also contributed on the offensive end with three service aces.
The Eagles averaged 10.22 kills per set over the weekend with 92 kills and a .190 hitting percentage. They dished 84 assists, while dropping in 13 service aces. On the defensive end, the Eagles stayed consistent on the net with 15.5 total blocks, out-numbering two of their three opponents. They also collected 87 digs.
Maryland Eastern Shore, who took away the UMES Hawk Invitational title, used a balanced attack to defeat the Eagles in three sets as they had three Hawk student-athletes record double-figure kills as Maline Vaitai, Zoe Bowens and Samantha Chukwura all collected 10 kills to lead to a .375 attack percentage. Stephanie Sierra led the way with 20 assists and eight digs, while Vaitai followed with seven digs.
Coppin State was led by All-Tournament Team honoree Ashley Saunders, who notched a double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs. She was assisted by Haley Beechler with 31 assists, while Alexandria Malesick led the way with two assisted blocks for the Eagles as they hit just .192 in the match with 35 kills and 16 errors.
Hampton was led by the hitting duo of Aaryn Harrison and Sheileen Pagan with 10 kills apiece, as Lihi Elkayam dished 27 assists. Harrison, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, also led the way in blocks with three. Pagan and Ivana Suput anchored the defense with seven digs each, followed by Mianna Armstrong with six.
The Pirates were the only team in the tournament to out-number the Eagles in blocks, 4.5-4.0, as they hit .192 on the day with 32 kills and 18 errors. Defensively, the Pirates tallied 10 service aces, 29 assists and 26 digs.
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Spartans Can't Put Away Coppin State, Fall 3-2
PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - Getting off to a slow start, the Norfolk State volleyball team turned things back around in the middle of the match but couldn't sustain that momentum in a 3-2 loss to Coppin State Saturday at the Peaky's North/South UMES Hawk Invitational.
After the Eagles won the first set, 25-17, NSU looked to be in control after winning the next two sets, 25-19 and 25-17. But with their backs against the wall, the Eagles took the fourth set, 25-18, and the fifth and final set, 15-11.
The loss dropped NSU to 5-12 on the season, while Coppin State upped its record to 3-13.
Sophomore Ellica Morris led the Spartans with 13 kills while hitting .233, while freshman Arielle Knafel and sophomore Charlotte Armstead totaled 12 and 10 kills, respectively. Freshman Noelle Eagles led the match with 17 digs, and junior Nicole Kessner totaled 29 assists, nine kills and eight digs.
Coppin State was led by Ashley Saunders with 14 kills and 10 digs and Haley Beechler with 28 assists. Alexandria Malesick had a match-high six blocks as the Eagles outblocked the Spartans, 12-5.5.
The Eagles also hit .243 for the match with 42 kills and just 15 attack errors, while NSU hit .162 with 58 kills but committed 35 attack errors. NSU held a big edge in digs, 49-36, and Coppin State had a slight advantage in service aces, 7-6.
For the complete story, visit www.nsuspartans.com
UMES Too Much for NSU in 3-0 Loss
PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - Maryland Eastern Shore proved too tough for Norfolk State in a 3-0 loss for the Spartans in the Peaky's North/South UMES Hawk Invitational Saturday afternoon at the W.P. Hytche Center.
UMES ran its record to 11-9 as the Hawks down NSU, 25-18, 25-20, 25-15. The loss, NSU's fourth in a row, dropped the Spartans' record to 5-13.
Junior Nicole Kessner had 17 assists and was the team's leading offensive producer with eight kills. Freshman Arielle Knafel had seven kills, while rookie Noelle Eagles contributed nine digs.
UMES was led by Zoe Bowens with 12 kills and Kaveinga Lea'Aetoa with nine. Stephanie Sierra had a double-double with 28 assists and 11 digs, both team highs.
Sophomore Charlotte Armstead was named to the All-Tournament Team.
The Hawks hit .308 for the match, compared to just .044 for the Spartans. NSU totaled slightly more digs than UMES, 30-28, while the Hawks had the edge in service aces, 7-5. Both teams had five blocks on the day.
For the complete story, visit www.nsuspartans.com
HAWKS SWEEP PAST N.C. A&T, NSU FOR UMES INVITATIONAL TITLE
PRINCESS ANNE, Md. -Maryland Eastern Shore earned 3-0 sweeps of North Carolina A&T and Norfolk State to win the Peaky's North/South UMES Invitational at the William P. Hytche Athletic Center Saturday.
UMES, which improved to 11-9 on the season with the victories, winning 10 of its last 12, beat the Lady Aggies by scores of 25-12, 25-15 and 25-7 in just 40 minutes and the Spartans, 25-18, 25-20 and 25-15.
Tournament MVP Zoe Bowens led the way, totaling 25 kills (4.17 per game), a .468 attack percentage seven service aces and seven digs on the day. Fellow all-tournament team members freshmen Kaveinga Lea'Aetoa and Maline Vaitai each tallied 15 kills apiece in the two matches.
Redshirt senior Samantha Chukwura hit a team-high .476 on 14 kills in 21 attacks against four errors on Saturday while the Hawks held both opponents to a combined -.013 hitting percentage.
Against North Carolina A&T (2-18), The Hawks topped their season-high .375 hitting percentage set in Friday's match versus North Carolina Central with a even better mark of .384 (38-10-73). UMES limited N.C. A&T to a -.092 from the floor on nine kills 15 errors in 65 attacks.
Bowens tallied a match-high 13 kills and Vaiati chipped in with 10 in the win. Junior Rebecca Prado collected a match-high 11 digs and sophomore Stephanie Sierra had 24 of the team's 33 assists.
Andrea Evans led N.C. A&T with four kills.
The win against NSU is its 18 straight versus the Spartans. Bowens again led all players with 12 kills and Lea'Aetoa had nine. Sierra picked up her sixth double-double of the season with 28 assists and 11 digs to direct the Hawks' offense while providing solid defense.
UMES hit .308 (35-11-78) versus NSU, marking the third consecutive match UMES hit over .300. NSU (5-13) was held to .044 (30-26-91) on the night in the loss.
For the complete story, www.umeshawks.com