Oct. 1, 2012

PRINCESS ANNE, Md.  – There were two programs in action this past week for the University of Maryland Eastern Shore as the men’s golf team opened up its fall season and the volleyball opened Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play with two wins. Individually, the week was highlighted by the hole-in-one by junior Paul Cecil (Severn, Md.) and 32 kills by junior Maline Vaitai (Salt Lake City, Utah).

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

VOLLEYBALL

The volleyball team went 2-0 this past week as they opened up MEAC play with road wins over Delaware State and Howard.

UMES won 3-0 at DSU in its MEAC opener on Tuesday. With the victory, UMES snapped a three-match losing streak as two players registered double-digit kill totals. The Hawks were led by the 13 kills of Vaitai and the 29 assist performance of Jessie Vicic (Cambridge, Ontario).

The Hawks lost their first two sets to Howard before UMES reeled wins in the final three sets to defeat the Bison, 3-2. The victory ensured UMES sole possession of first-place in the MEAC North. The maroon and grey had two student-athletes notch double-doubles in the game in Vaitai and sophomore Saitau Iosia (Long Beach, Calif.). Vaitai posted a 19 kill, 13 dig effort, while Iosia had 16 kills and 14 digs.

Dating back to last season, UMES has now won 14 straight regular season conference matches.

GOLF

The UMES golf team participated in two tournaments this past week as the men opened up their fall season with a ninth-place finish at the Rehoboth Beach Invitational and a strong outing at the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame Invitational.

The Rehoboth Beach Invitational was held at the Kings Creek Country Club and featured 11 teams and 54 golfers. The Hawks finished with 651 total points, 13 strokes less than the closest competitor.

Junior Gregory Raad (Bel Air, Md.) led the way with a 30th place finish, while junior Paul Cecil (Severn, Md.) was second in 46th. The pair was followed by junior Michael Veverka (Brunswick, Md.), who was the third Hawk to finish in the top-50 as he placed 49th. Veverka shot a team-low score of 75 on the first round.

The highlight of the tournament was a made hole-in-one shot by Cecil. The junior made his shot at the par-3, 183 yard 16th hole. It was the first hole-in-one in both the history of the program and Cecil’s career.

The Hawks also competed in the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame Invitational but the results of the tournament was unavailable as of press time.

PECKS…

• This week’s featured student-athlete in UMES’ newest column, A Walk with a Hawk…, was freshman golfer Jon Seward (Ft. Washington, Md.)
  
• Cecil and Vaitai were selected as the PRMC UMES Student Athletes of the Week
  
• The UMES bowling team announced the addition of Assistant Coach, Tyler Schmitz, to its program
  
• Hawk alum, Earl Christy, was recently named to the Havre De Grace High Hall of Fame

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