DOVER, Del. (Oct 11th) - After starting with an outstanding set of volleyball, the DSU Hornets were unable to sustain the momentum and fell to the UMES Hawks 3-1 (18-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-16) on Sunday afternoon at Memorial Gym. 

"Our serve receive killed us," said head coach Renee Arnold, whose charges fell to .500 in MEAC play.  "We played really well the first game, we came out with energy and focus, and we lost it from there.  We weren't aggressive offensively like we were in the first set."

That first set would be the highlight, as the red and blue scored 15 kills without an error in the first set to hit a gaudy .441 while holding UMES (13-6, 2-0 MEAC) to just .105.  Senior middle hitter Cassandra Joyner was the catalyst with six kills on eight attacks to open the match.

But it was the serve receive issues Arnold spoke of that would spell doom for the Hornets (11-11, 1-1 MEAC).  A total of 13 reception errors for the match, combined with an overload of poor passes from the back row that gave setter Martina Ferrari limited options on first attacks were the difference, and a consistent Hawk offense made the Hornets pay.  UMES primary hitting pair of Whitney Johnson and Christine Edwards combined for 25 kills, and Caylin Woodward's nine kills and 12 digs left her just shy of a double-double.

Erica Tajchman picked up the lone double-double for either side in the match with 13 kills and 11 digs.  Sarah Wheatcroft also had three block solos from the right side, which went as DSU's only three blocks of the match.  Joyner would lead all Hornets with 14 kills on 30 swings with six errors to hit .267 with eight digs. 

DSU returns to the court on Friday when they take on Howard in Washington D.C.  They'll be back on home hardwood Sunday at 3 p.m. against Morgan State.  Live stats will be available via DSUHornets.com.