BALTIMORE-- The UMBC volleyball team was defeated by James Madison, 3-1, Tuesday night at the RAC Arena. The loss dropped the Retrievers to 9-6, while the Dukes improved to 6-10.
The Retrievers were plagued by 15 service errors in the 17-25, 25-10, 23-25, 22-25 loss to the Dukes. UMBC hit .267, while JMU hit .295 for the match. The Retrievers' best set was the second, when they hit 13 kills against only two errors, while holding the Dukes to a -.080 hitting percentage for the set.
The Retrievers were within two points late in each the third and the fourth sets, but the Dukes pulled away with five-point runs to take control. Facing set point in both sets, UMBC had four-point rallies before JMU would breakthrough for the victory.
Junior Sarah Ball (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada/Sisler) earned a double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs, while freshman Alyssa Lang (Richmond, Va./Deep Run) had a team-high 14 kills and three service aces.
Junior Ashley Oscars (Bakersfield, Calif./Liberty) had a game-high 14 digs. She had nine attacks in the match, moving her into eighth place in UMBC history with 2,542 in her career.
Freshman Allie Spaay (Kenosha, Wisc./Kenosha Tremper) had a career-high 41 assists, while sophomore Bridget Scheetz (St. Louis, Mo./Ursuline Academy) added 11 kills and six assisted blocks.
The Retrievers return to action Thursday at 7 p.m. when they travel to Morgan State for their last match before America East play starts.
