STONY BROOK, N.Y.—The UMBC volleyball suffered a
heartbreaking 16-25, 25-17, 20-25, 27-25, 15-13 loss at Stony Brook
Sunday at Pritchard Gymnasium. Despite the loss, the Retrievers
(10-15, 6-4 America East) qualified for the America East
Championships for the third consecutive year with New Hampshire's
3-1 loss to Binghamton. The Seawolves improved to 11-15 and 6-4 in
conference play.
The Retrievers were led by junior Iman Kennedy
(Charlotte, N.C./Independence) who hit an .345 with 14 kills.
Fellow junior Allie Spaay
(Kenosha, Wis./Kenosha Tremper) had a game-high 49 assists to go
along with a team-high 21 digs. Spaay now has 1,155 assists, moving
her into ninth all-time at UMBC.
Senior Sabrina Hoeks
(Olympia, Wash./AG West Black Hills) led the team with 19 kills and
also added 10 digs, while sophomore Ali Loynachan
(Whitby, Ontario, Canada/Sinclair) posted nine kills and 20
digs.
In the first set, UMBC played great defense, holding Stony Brook
to a -0.167 hitting percentage on their way to a 25-16 win. In the
second, the Retrievers hit .243, but the Seawolves hit .394 to win
25-17.
Down 19-15 in the third, UMBC stormed back with a 10-1 run to
win the set, 25-20. Kennedy had four kills and Spaay added seven
assists during the comeback.
In the fourth, the Retrievers staved off two set points before
the Seawolves finished with a kill and a block to win 27-25. UMBC
jumped out to a 13-9 lead in the fifth, but Stony Brook won the
last six points to win the fifth and decisive set.
The Retrievers return home next weekend for the final two
matches of the regular season. UMBC takes on New Hampshire Friday
at 5 p.m. before facing Providence Sunday at 11 a.m.
