NORFOLK, Va. – Lucia Babic tallied 15 kills and led a strong Maryland Eastern Shore offense to a 3-0 win over the Norfolk State volleyball team on Friday night at Gill Gymnasium.
 
The Hawks hit .365 and ended with just eight attack errors on the way to a 25-21, 25-20, 25-23 victory. They fell behind at the beginning of each set, but each time MDES rallied to take the lead for good midway through.
 
The Spartans, meanwhile, hit well at .198 and had just one less kill than the Hawks. Junior Anna Rupertova led NSU with 10 kills while hitting .348. In the end, the Spartans fell to 3-16 overall, 2-6 in the MEAC.
 
Maryland Eastern Shore improved to 8-14, 5-2 in the league.
 
The Hawks called timeout early in both the first and second sets after NSU came out swinging. Rupertova had three kills early in the first as the Spartans jumped ahead, 7-3. They still led 9-5 after a kill from sophomore Taylor Eichelberger, but a little later the Hawks started an 8-1 run.
 
They led by three after that point and by five a little later. Three errors on MDES got the Spartans to within two at 20-18, but the Hawks pulled ahead for good from there.
 
Rupertova also had a pair of kills early in the second set, and again the Spartans started off strong. The Hawks called timeout down 7-2, but a 5-2 run got them to within one. They then scored two or three points for every one of NSU's, which in the end put MDES up 20-15. The lead stretched to as much as six near the end.
 
It was then a 6-2 lead for NSU at the start of the third. Then the Hawks won five of the next six before a couple of errors on them allowed the Spartans to take a 10-8 advantage. They still led by two at 15-13 after a service ace from junior Bojana Bolozan, but the Hawks won the next five points.
 
Kills by Eichelberger and Bolozan helped the Spartans eventually tie the score at 21-all, but MDES had just enough left to finish the win.
 
Eichelberger tallied eight kills and four service aces, and Bolozan ended the night with seven kills and a team-high six digs.
 
Rachel Kayongo added eight kills for Maryland Eastern Shore. The Hawks held a 6-1 advantage in blocks for the night.
 
The Spartans play their last home match of the year on Sunday at 3 p.m. against Delaware State at Gill Gym.