The UMBC volleyball team won its sixth straight match Wednesday night as it defeated local rival Towson, 3-1, at the RAC Arena. With the win, the Retrievers improved to 15-6, while the Tigers dropped to 14-7.
After a poor first set, the Retrievers stormed back to win 16-25, 25-21, 25-17 and 25-16. UMBC was outhit by the Tigers .193 to .169, but hit 15 service aces compared to the Tigers" two. Sophomore Bridget Scheetz (St. Louis,Mo./Ursuline Academy) and freshman Alyssa Lang (Richmond, Va./Deep Run) led the serving machine with four aces each.
"We struggled in the first set, but we made some key adjustments," said head Ian Blanchard. "Sabrina (Hoeks) stepped up on the outside today, Iman (Kennedy) came through for us in the second set offensively and Sarah Joy really helped us with her blocking in the third and fourth."
Junior Ashley Oscars (Bakersfield, Calif./Liberty) hit a team-high 11 kills, while sophomore Sabrina Hoeks (Olympia, Washington/AG West Black Hills) hit 10. Junior Sarah Ball (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada/Sisler) led the team with a .312 hitting percentage with seven kills against only two errors.
After the first set, Blanchard made some changes to the lineup, bringing in junior Kira Giles (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada/Glenlawn) to set. The move paid off with Giles earning her sixth double-double of the season with 29 assists and 12 digs.
"Kira stepped up huge for us tonight," said Blanchard. "It's nice to know that we have that option where if one setter isn't having the best game, we can turn to the other and step in."
Defense was also solid for the Retrievers, who had four players with double-digit digs with led by junior Pam Jarrett (Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln Pius X), who had a game-high 14.
The Retrievers return to America East action Sunday at 2 p.m. when they play host to Binghamton at the RAC.
