Princess Anne, Md. (Sep. 27, 2013) --- The Delaware State University volleyball team went down to defeat 3-1 to Maryland-Eastern Shore in the 2013 MEAC opener for both teams.

The scores were 25-20, 17-25, 25-11 and 25-15.

The Hawks snapped a four-game losing streak to improve to 2-10 overall and 1-0 in the MEAC.  The Hornets dropped their sixth straight match to fall to 1-10 overall and 0-1 in league play.

Ashley Smith led UMES with 12 kills. Three other Hawks also reached double figures in kills.

Edarkis Branch (jr.;  Los Angeles, Cal.) led Delaware State with 11 kills and 13 digs. Natalia Mendieta (so.; Aurora, Ill.) had a team-high 22 assists for the Hornets.

In game one, the score was 8-8 before UMES began to pull away. The Hawks led by as many as seven points in the set before settling for the five-point win.

Delaware State evened the match with a win in game two. The Hornets led 15-14 in the set for going on a 6-1 run to take control. DSU opened up a 21-15 lead on a kill by Branch off a feed from Mendieta. Branch led all players with six kills in the second set.

UMES took control early in game three en route to the win and a 2-1 lead in the match.

The Hawks won 12 of the last 14 points in game four to close out the match.

Delaware State returns to action on Monday (Sep. 30) at home against Howard. The match gets underway at 5:00 p.m. in Memorial Hall.