Sept. 28, 2008

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DURHAM, NC - North Carolina Central University volleyball fell to the Hawks of Maryland Eastern Shore, 3-1 (25-13, 23-25, 25-14, 25-22).

The Hawks took set one from the Eagles, but in set two it was all NCCU.

NCCU (4-17) earned a hard-fought 25-23 victory in the second game to tie 1-1 as NCCU tallied 14 kills and recorded a .233 attack percentage. The Eagles and Hawks battled back and forth for points in the beginning. The Eagles were down 6-8 before going on a three point run. Shaina Pryor and Nadia Hayes made key blocks back-to-back to give the Eagles an 18-13 lead.

UMES (13-6) rallied back to tie the game 23 all, but key errors for the Hawks gave the Eagles a chance to win the game. With a service ace from Belinda Behncke-Biney and a kill from Avaniki Campbell, NCCU came away in set two.

In set three the Eagles could only manage six kills with a .062 hitting percentage, while in set four UMES hit 50 percent with 12 kills.

"We played very hard and played well as a team," said NCCU head coach Georgette Crawford-Crooks. "Maryland Eastern-Shore is a good team."

Campbell led the Eagles with 10 kills with a .273 hitting percentage and two blocks, while teammate Pryor had nine kills and three blocks. Setter Ashley Shade had a team-high of 22 assists for NCCU.

On the defensive side NCCU dominated the match with 11 blocks. Hayes totaled four blocks, while Rachel Lloyd had 10 digs.

NCCU couldn't overcome an aggressive Hawk attack that totaled nine service aces and 53 total kills in the match. Maryland Eastern Shore for the match had a .319 hitting percentage.

UMES was led by Christine Edwards who had a game high of 16 kills and Whitney Johnson collected 14 kills. Christina Estebane led the Hawks with 39 assists.