Sept. 11, 2012

PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - It was a great week to be a Hawk this past week as the University of Maryland Eastern Shore athletics program saw several of its team post fantastic performances. The volleyball team went 3-0 to claim first-place at the West Virginia University Golden Horseshoe Invitational, while several solid individual efforts guided the cross country teams to a good outing at in Delaware.

Let's take a look at action from this past week:

VOLLEYBALL

Sophomore Saitaua Iosia (Long Beach, Calif.) recorded a match-high 17 kills in UMES' opening round win over West Virginia, where the Hawks pinned a 3-1 decision over the Mountaineers. She was one of three Hawks to collect double-digit kill totals as sophomore Victoria Williams (Los Angeles, Calif.) and junior Maline Vaitai (Salt Lake City, Utah) each had 10.

The Hawks ran away with the win in their second match over St. Peters. The 3-0 victory was spearheaded by the performances of junior Megan Mueller (Manchester, Mo.) and freshman Bridget Ebster-Schwarzenberg (St. Veiterstrabe, Austria). Mueller had a match-high 10 digs while Ebster-Schwarzenberg posted the most kills (13) of anyone on the court.

UMES won its third match of the tournament on Saturday against Wright State, 3-2. Senior Ndidi Ibe (North Richland Hills, Texas) was all over the floor for the Hawks as she narrowly missed a double-double with 10 kills and nine digs. Junior Kaveinga Lea'Aetoa (Salt Lake City, Utah) had a team-high 11 kills, while sophomore Jessie Vicic (Cambridge, Ontario) had 45 assists and 16 digs.

The three wins moves UMES' record to 10-1 as the Hawks are off to their best start in over a decade.

MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY

For the second consecutive week, senior Zavior Brown (Middletown, N.Y.) was the top finished for the men's cross country team. He concluded the race within the top-10, good for a seventh-place time of 16:39.51. Senior Codjo Gbedo (New Carrollton, Md.) finished a short time later in 17:02.58 and senior Dennis Gonzales (Silver Spring, Md.) ended the race in 18:52.78. 

The top-5 for the men was rounded out by junior Aaron Chatman (Waldorf, Md.) and sophomore Javierelle Turner (Staten Island, N.Y.), who finished in 20:20.01 and 20:47.59, respectively.

The men ended the DSU Invitational with a sixth-place finish and an average time of 18:44.71

WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY

It was the performance of sophomore Latitia Salley (Linden, N.J.) that stole the show for the UMES women at the DSU Invitational on Friday. Salley placed first overall in the event when she tore down the ribbon first with a time of 19:19.09.

She was follwed up by senior Emilie Ducados (Paris, France), who finished in 17th place with a time of 22:31.53. Ducados was followed by freshman Taylor Folk's (Baltimore, Md.) 18th place time (22:38.88) and sophomore Annis Mars' (Brooklyn, N.Y.) time of 23:15.74. Nancy Yao completed the top-5 for the women with a finish in 27:39.80.

The sound results provided by the women cemented the Hawks with a fourth-place overall finish.

OTHER PECKS...

• Salley and Brown were selected as this week's PRMC UMES Athletes of the Week
• Former Major Leaguer, Pedro Swann, has been named the new baseball coach for the UMES baseball team
• Bridget Ebster-Schwartzenberger was selected as the MEAC Rookie of the Week in volleyball
• The women's basketball team recently announced its 2012-13 schedule with two trips to Florida and 14 home games at the William P. Hytche Center 

For complete recaps, results and news of Hawk athletics, please visit www.umeshawks.com