Volleyball Courtesy of MDES Sports Information

Hawks drop four-set match to New Hampshire

PRINCESS ANNE, Md.— Maryland Eastern Shore lost their second straight match, falling in four sets Saturday (23-25, 22-25, 25-22, 19-25) to the New Hampshire Wildcats. The Hawks fell to 13-12 overall on the season.

Sophomore Lucia Babic registered her first double-double of the season with 12 kills and 10 digs, along with a team high five service aces and two block assists. Two other sophomores—Rachel Kayongo and Koya Sowells — led the Hawks in other categories, with Kayongo supplying 15 kills and Sowells tallying 14 digs. Freshman Ivana Blazevic assisted on 37 of the Hawks’ 40 kills, and senior Mere Serea earned five blocks, one of them solo.

New Hampshire’s Demi Muses led the match with 20 kills along with 14 digs. Keelin Severtson averaged over 13 assists per set.

All four sets played very close. In the first set, each team rallied back to forth, forcing ties at the 6-6 mark and the 12-12 mark. The Shore took small leads during the midway point, aided by two kills from freshman Iva Vujosevic. However, New Hampshire regained the lead with four kills from Muses to ultimately capture the set by two points.

The Wildcats took the early edge in set two but the Hawks roared back with two Vujosevic aces to tie the set at eight. Maryland Eastern Shore continued to hang tough with aces, earning one from Sowells and two from Babic. But a 7-2 run secured the set for New Hampshire, who won by three.

The Hawks made their stand in the third set, with Vujosevic once again leading the way with three straight kills, building a 13-9 lead. New Hampshire kept the set close but the Hawks steadily increased the lead to seven at set point with a Kayongo kill. The Wildcats pulled off a 5-0 run to make things interesting, but Serea delivered the final blow to force a fourth set.

Any hopes for a five set match were dashed by the Wildcats, who stormed out to an 11-5 lead. The Shore tried to keep pace, but New Hampshire rode the early momentum to win the match with a six-point victory.

The Hawks head on the road for contests against Morgan State and Coppin State next weekend. Maryland Eastern Shore returns home November 4th for a 6 p.m. senior night contest against the Norfolk State Spartans.