UMES Sweeps Series With 3-0 Win
By Jasmine King, Volleyball, Public Relations 2013
WASHINGTON, DC – The Howard University Lady Bison (4-20, 3-4 MEAC) went head-to-head with the University of Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks (18-6, 9-0 MEAC) Friday night in Burr Gym. The Hawks shot down the Lady Bison in a quick three sets.
Set scores were 15-25, 19-25 and 25-27. The loss of set one was mainly due to unforced errors.
The second set was a chance for the Lady Bison to refocus and minimize their unforced errors. Unfortunately, UMES capitalized on the first set; coming back from an HU lead to take over the set. The Hawks adjusted well suffering from a major injury, middle blocker, Kaveinga Lea'Aetoa, who sat for the match.
"We were a little sluggish in the first two sets, we played well in spurts," says head coach Dawn Barnes. "We came alive in the third set, but were not able to finish; there were great blocks, big swings and some awesome swings from both teams."
The third set after half time, Howard was ready to come out and play. The Lady Bison had the Hawks up for the majority of the match. After a few errors, the Hawks were back in the game to finish the match with the win.
Senior middle blocker, Taylor Johnson finished with a whooping seven kills and two block assists. Tosin Elebute and Gabrielle Martin both put down six balls for the Lady Bison. Stephanie Shultis put up 12 assists followed by Jasmine King with nine.
Defensively, Riana Cain picked up 14 digs. UMES out blocked Howard 4-8 and out dug them 35-40.
For the Hawks, Saitaua Iosia finished with 19 kills and seven digs followed by Maline Vaitai with nine and nine, just short of a double-double. Rebecca Prado had nine digs to finish the match.
Next up, Howard takes on the Delaware State Hornets. The Lady Bison will be paying tribute to their three graduating seniors Tosin Elebute, Gabrielle Martin and Taylor Johnson. Manager Dominic Spencer will also be recognized. The first serve is at 3pm in The Burr.
