NEWARK, Del.-- The UMBC volleyball team dropped a three-set non-conference matchup at Delaware, 18-25, 25-27 and 19-25 Tuesday night. The loss dropped the Retrievers to 16-12 on the season, while the Blue Hens improved to 16-14.
Hitting and serving errors plagued the Retrievers as they only hit .047 for the match compared to Delaware's .160 hitting percentage. UMBC also had nine service errors in the match. Even though it was only the fifth time the Retrievers were swept, the head coach was able to take some encouraging aspects away from the match.
"Although we didn't particularly play well tonight, one of our goals for tonight was to move some people around to some different positions and try some different things that we can use in this weekend's (conference) matches," said head coach Ian Blanchard. "I think we came away from this match with some positives that we can build on for the rest of the week and we were able to rest some players that needed a break."
Junior Sarah Ball (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada/Sisler) became the 10th player in UMBC history with 900 digs after earning five to bring her career total to 901.
Sophomore Bridget Scheetz (St. Louis, Mo./Ursuline Academy) earned her 100th assisted block of the season, the second time she has achieved the century mark. She is only Retriever in school history to earn 100 in a season, including a school-record 112 last season.
In the first set, the Blue Hens jumped out to a 6-2 lead behind Kim Stewart's serve and never looked back as the Retrievers hit -.133 with 10 errors.
The second set was UMBC's best chance, but after the set was tied at 25, Stewart hit a kill before Elena DelleDonne finished the set with a kill for the Blue Hens.
In the third set, the Retrievers hit 12 kills to only four errors, but four service errors and four ball-handling errors allowed the Blue Hens to capitalize and take the match, 25-19.
After a five-straight away matches, the Retrievers return to action Friday at the RAC for a crucial America East matchup with Stony Brook at 7 p.m. The Retrievers can clinch a berth in the America East Tournament with a win.
