BALTIMORE-Maryland Eastern Shore defeated North Carolina Central, 3-2, in the first round of the 2011 volleyball championship tournament Friday afternoon at the Physical Education Complex on the campus of Coppin State University.
The North Carolina Central Lady Eagles, who are in their first year of MEAC competition, kept the first set close matching point for point before the Lady Hawks went on a 10-4 run to pull away and win 25-15.
With both teams locked at 7-7 in the second set, the Lady Hawks then went on a 3-0 run to grab the lead, but North Carolina Central responded with 4-1 run of their own to take control at 13-11. The Lady Eagles never let down building a 22-19 lead and won the second set 25-22 to tie the match at one apiece.
Maryland Eastern Shore opened the third set with a 7-1 scoring run to lead North Carolina Central 9-3. The Lady Eagles fought back and scored three points to pull within five but Maryland Eastern Shore closed out the set on a 6-1 run, powered by the serving of MEAC Rookie of the Year Saitaua Iosia to take the 2-1 lead in the match.
The Lady Eagles came back aggressive in the third set and built a 10-5 lead. Maryland Eastern Shore answered to pull within one but North Carolina Central held their lead 20-16. After a timeout by the Lady Hawks, UMES went on a 4-0 run to tie the set a 20-all. The Lady Eagles responded and closed the match on a 5-2 run to win 25-22.
The fifth set opened up with both teams trading points until Iosia aided Maryland Eastern Shore on a 6-0 run with a service ace to pull ahead 11-4 and take the decisive fifth set 15-7. The Lady Hawks advance to tomorrow's semifinal and will face Hampton at Noon.
Iosia led Maryland Eastern Shore with 16 kills and seven digs. Maline Vaitai and Ndidi Ibe also contributed 12 and 11 kills, respectively and a combined for five blocks. The offense was orchestrated by freshman setter Jessica Vicic who had 47 assists and nine digs. The win was the 200th career victory for the Hawks Head Coach Don Metil.
North Carolina Central was led by Shantel Moore and Emanuelle Santos who each had 13 kills. Santos also contributed eight digs and nine blocks during the match.
Florida A&M sweeps Howard, 3-0, at MEAC Volleyball Tournament
BALTIMORE- Florida A&M defeated Howard, 3-0, in the first round of the 2011 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) volleyball championship tournament Friday afternoon at the Physical Education Complex on the campus of Coppin State University.
Howard (6-22) came into the game ready, quickly winning the first three points. Florida A&M (12-12) answered back taking the next four to take a 4-3 lead. The Lady Rattlers extended their lead to three midway thru the first set 12-9 on the strong defensive skills of Pamela Barrera. The Lady Bison battled back on a 9-0 run spurred by the serving of Meagan Lagerlef and the defense of Stephanie Shultis and Gabrielle Martin.
Florida A&M followed with a run of their own pulling even at 22-all late, capitalizing on errors by the Lady Bison defense. The score remained close until Florida A&M's offense closed the set out with a 26-24 win. All-MEAC First Team Maria Ceccarelli led the Lady Rattlers in the first set with seven kills.
Florida A&M opened the second set strongly and built a 5-1 lead. Howard responded winning the next five points to pull ahead 6-5. The Lady Rattlers then capitalized on serving errors by Howard to grab a 17-11 lead. Florida A&M's offense led by sophomore Katherine Huanec took over the rest of the way as the Lady Rattlers won the set 25-16.
Both teams started the third set slow with each committing a number of errors offensively. The Lady Rattlers were able to put together a 4-0 run led by Ceccarelli who scored on three consecutive points to pull away early 10-6. Howard used their defense to stay close pulling within three but Florida A&M used the offense of Huanec and Ceccarelli to pull away late grabbing a 19-11 lead and pulling out the 25-19 win.
The Lady Rattlers were led by Ceccarelli who had 20 kills and six digs. Huanec and Marquez also contributed 13 kills and 14 digs respectively.
The Lady Bison were led by Assata Conway who tallied seven kills and four blocks.
Bethune-Cookman defeats Morgan State in five set Thriller
BALTIMORE- Bethune Cookman defeated the Morgan State Wildcats, 3-2 (25-15, 18-25, 17-25, 25-20, 15-13), in the first round of the 2011 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) volleyball championship tournament Friday evening at the Physical Education Complex on the campus of Coppin State University.
Aubrianna Curtis got the Lady Wildcats (14-17) off and rolling with a service ace to get a quick 2-0 lead on the Lady Bears. Morgan State (10-19) battled back to grab a 10-7 lead, taking advantage of service errors by Bethune-Cookman. Kierra Outlin and Morgan State's offense took control going on a 9-2 run to seize control on the first set with a 25-25 victory.
The Lady Wildcats opened the second set with a 6-1 run, capitalizing on Morgan State defensive errors. Linda Nwabuko led the way for Bethune-Cookman with five kills to start second set. Morgan State mounted a comeback with two kills by Erin Cox to pull within three. All-MEAC First Team selection Krysta Gardner aided the B-CU defense which stepped up to extend the lead and take the second set 25-18.
With the match even at one-all, the Lady Wildcats jumped out to an early lead 7-5. MSU used a 6-0 run to grab a 11-7 lead which they never relinquished. Bethune-Cookman attempted a comeback and got within one before Morgan State pulled away with a 25-17 set victory to go up two sets to one.
In the fourth, Bethune-Cookman used mistakes by the Lady Bears and two service aces by Jennifer Jimenez to roll out to an early 7-1 lead. Gardner and B-CU kept up the attack pushing the lead to nine midway through the fourth set. Morgan State battled to get within four but could not pull any closer. Bethune-Cookman grabbed the fourth set 25-20 to force a deciding fifth set.
The fifth set started close at 5-5 with neither team able to score consecutive points. When the Lady Wildcats finally did to go ahead by two Morgan State responded to pull even at nine a piece. Both teams went back and forth until B-CU's Gardner scored three consecutive points to win the match.
Gardner led the Lady Wildcats with a double-double of 23 kills and 12 digs. Jimenez led the team in digs with 20 and Janeen Davis contributed 12 kills on the night. Frances Rodriquez guided the offense with 31 assists.
Morgan State was led by senior Erin Cox who also recorded a double-double with 14 kills and 10 digs. Kierra Outlin recorded a team-high 13 digs for the Lady Bears.