BALTIMORE - Reigning America East Rookie of the Week Ali Loynachan (Whitby, Ontario, Canada/Sinclair) hit 10 kills against just one error as the UMBC volleyball team defeated Morgan State in straight sets, 3-0, Tuesday evening at the RAC Arena. With the win, the Retrievers improved to 4-6, while the Bears fell to 4-10.

UMBC controlled the entire match, winning the first set, 25-18, before cruising in the second and third, 25-9 and 25-11. The Retrievers limited their errors, only hitting 10, while pressuring the Bears into 24 errors. In the second, UMBC scored nine straight points off of Loynachan's serve.

"This was our best total team effort so far this year," head coach Ian Blanchard said, "and Ali did a great job of keeping them off balance hitting and serving, especially in the second set."

The Retrievers outhit the Bears, .299 to -0.06. and served 11 aces to Morgan State's one, including junior Sabrina Hoeks (Olympia, Wash./AG West Black Hills) serving five.

"Sabrina put a lot of pressure on them in all areas of the game tonight," the coach said. Her arm was like a bolt of lightning, she gets so much power on the ball."

Other solid performances from the Retrievers included senior Ashley Oscars (Bakersfield, Calif./Liberty), who hit eight kills and no errors, while senior Kira Giles (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada/Glenlawn directed the offense with 28 assists.

The Retrievers return to action this weekend when they take part in the Maryland Invitational in College Park Md. UMBC faces Howard Friday at 5 p.m., before taking on VCU and host Maryland on Saturday at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., respectively.