RIVERSIDE, Calif.—The UMBC volleyball
team came-from-behind Monday afternoon to defeat UC Riverside,
23-25, 25-21, 26-24, 25-17 in a back-and-forth match at the UCR
Student Recreation Center. Junior Katie
Kelly (Diamond Bar, Calif./Diamond Bar) led the
Retrievers (2-2) with a career-high nine blocks.
"It's always great to get a win over a (University of)
California team," head coach Ian
Blanchard said. "We had three really close sets, and
it was a great test to see how we play under pressure."
Kelly also hit .304 with nine kills, while
sophomore Hallie
Carter (Huntington Beach, Calif./Edison) notched
her first double-double of the season with 12 kills and 12
digs.
"Katie had another fantastic performance for us in the middle in
both a hitting and blocking perspective," the coach said.
UMBC had three players with seven blocks or more, with
senior Iman
Kennedy (Charlotte, N.C./Independence) and
freshman Dalton
Tolliver (Ortonville, Mich./Notre Dame Prep) each
having seven to go with Kelly's nine.
Reigning America East Rookie of the Week Hannah
Schmidt (Catonsville, Md./Mount de Sales)
continued her impressive early season with 14 kills, seven digs and
four blocks.
In the first set, the Retrievers led, 23-19, but the Highlanders
stormed back with six straight points to win 25-23. With almost the
same situation as the first set, Kelly earned two kills to win the
second, 25-21.
In the third set, it was Kelly again on set point, stuffing the
UCR attack to win the set, 26-24. In the fourth, the Retrievers hit
.343 with four blocks to control the set from the start to
finish.
Sophomore Rebecca
Garrigues (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Rancho
Cucamonga) had a career-high 16 digs, while
classmate Ali
Goc (Oshawa, Ontario, Canada/R.S. McLaughlin
Collegiate) added 14 more.
The Retrievers return back to Maryland Tuesday and back to
action this weekend for the Battle of Baltimore. UMBC plays Coppin
State and Loyola on Friday on the campus of Towson University,
while the Retrievers face Tigers and the Bears on the campus of
Morgan State Saturday.
"This has been an outstanding trip overall," Blanchard said. "We
played some very high level competition and improved in each match.
It was a great team bonding experience and its important to us to
get out here because we love recruiting West Coast kids and being
able to play in front of their families is important to us."
