PRINCESS ANNE, Md. – Senior
Jessica Johnson tallied 17 kills and hit .469, but UMES came away with a 3-0 victory over the Norfolk State volleyball team on Sunday afternoon in the final match of the UMES Courtyard Classic.
Johnson bounced back in a big way at the W.P. Hytche Athletic Center, finishing a few percentage points short of her career high of .476. She also added seven digs as UMES won by scores of 25-15, 25-19 and 25-20. The Hawks improved to 7-2 on the year.
Johnson and senior
Sydney Dailey were named to the all-tournament team. Dailey tied for the team lead with nine digs against the Hawks while also tallying five kills and two blocks. NSU dropped to 1-7 on the season.
Iva Vujosevic led UMES with 11 kills, five digs, three service aces and two blocks. UMES hit .355 with 43 kills and just 10 errors.
The match started off in favor of NSU, as the Spartans built a 7-3 lead thanks to several kills from Johnson. Unfortunately for Norfolk State, the wheels fell off after that. It started with a 9-2 run that put the Hawks ahead by three, and two 5-0 runs helped to close out the set.
Johnson had two straight kills early in the second set, but an extended 12-3 run by the Hawks put them up by seven. NSU responded, scoring six of the next eight points to get to within three. Johnson made it 18-16 with a kill, but the Spartans got no closer.
Johnson had a kill and service ace on back-to-back plays in the third set as well, again giving NSU an early lead at 6-5. Three straight kills from Dailey, Johnson and senior
Dominique Parker put the Spartans ahead 10-9 a short time later, but UMES scored seven straight to take a six-point advantage. NSU got to within four before UMES closed the match out.
Parker added six kills, and junior
Melvina Brown tied Dailey for the team lead with nine digs.
The Spartans hit .128 for the match. UMES also held a 7.5-2.0 edge in blocks.
NSU will head to Elon next weekend for the Phoenix Classic, the last non-conference tournament of the regular season for the Spartans.
