ALBANY, NY – Sophomore Hannah
Schmidt (Catonsville, Md./Mount de Sales) compiled her team
leading seventh double-double of the season, but it was not enough
as the Retrievers dropped a four-set contest (25-19, 18-25, 25-20,
25-15) Sunday to defending America East champion Albany at
University Gymnasium. Schmidt's 13 kills and 10 digs were her third
double-double in four matches.
UMBC (9-13, 2-3 AE) jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the first set,
but Albany (7-11, 4-0 AE) rallied to take a 9-7 lead on a kill
by Samantha Brostrom. Senior Ali
Loynachan (Whitby, Ontario/Sinclair) answered with a kill of
her own to bring the Black and Gold within one at 9-8, but that
would be the closest the Retrievers would get.
The second set began with the teams trading points, until
senior Katie Kelly (Diamond Bar, Calif./Diamond Bar)
buried a kill that started a 4-0 rally, and the Retrievers would
build their lead to as much as 10 on two occasions en route to the
set victory. Freshman Krystal Mlemchukwu (Baltimore,
Md./Western Tech) sparked UMBC as she recorded five of her
team-high 18 kills in that second set.
The third set was similar to the second as both teams traded
points, leading to a 5-5 tie early on,
but junior Mallory McIntyre (Winnepeg,
Manitoba/St. Mary's Academy) got two aces to give UMBC an 8-5 lead.
Albany would call time-out and eventually would go on a 4-0 run to
take an 13-11 advantage, a lead the Great Danes would not
relinquish.
Albany jumped all over UMBC in the fourth set, leading by as
much as 11 when a Traci Vandegrift kill
extended the Great Dane lead to 20-9. McIntyre had 10 of her
match-leading 50 assists for UMBC in the final set.
The Retrievers get a week off before hosting Stony Brook at the
RAC Arena next Sunday at 2 p.m.
