ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Sophomore Hannah Schmidt (Catonsville, Md./Mount de Sales) notched a match-high 13 kills, but the UMBC volleyball team lost in three sets to Central Michigan, 3-0 (25-19, 25-12, 25-22), Saturday evening to conclude the Adidas/Michigan Challenge at Cliff Keen Arena.
For Schmidt, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, it was her fourth double-digit kill effort of the season and second in UMBC's (2-6) last four matches. Junior libero Ali Goc (Oshawa, Ontario/R.S. McLaughlin) once again led the Retrievers on defense, picking up 15 digs, while classmate Hallie Carter (Huntington Beach, Calif./Edison) registered 10 digs.
"Even though the score didn't go our way, there are a lot of positives we can take from this weekend," said head coach Ian Blanchard. "All three contests should give our athletes confidence that their teammates will pick them up, especially on defense where we played some of the best I've seen in my time at UMBC."
Central Michigan (3-3) setter Kelly Maxwell spread around the offense all night, recording 31 assists and getting six teammates on the stat sheet. Angelique White led the Chippewas with 11 kills and teammate Kaitlyn McIntyre was also in double figures with 10 put-aways.
After an early back and forth between the two squads, Central Michigan took the initiative, using three straight points for their first lead. The Chippewas held the lead for most of the set until UMBC went on a 5-1 run to level the set at 16 with a service ace by junior Kat Lincalis (Halethorpe, Md./Towson). Central Michigan regained the momentum quickly, however, and used a quick 4-0 spurt to put the set away with a 25-19 win.
Set two belonged to the Chippewas from the start as they streaked to eight straight points for a 10-2 lead. The Retrievers could never get back into the set as CMU won the second set 25-12 with a 7-3 run to finish the frame.
Once again UMBC was resilient in the final set pushing Central Michigan to the brink. The teams swapped the lead six times and were knotted with the same score on 12 occasions. The Chippewas won the key points at the end of the set though, and prevailed to win the set, 25-22.
UMBC now has the remainder of the weekend off before traveling to Washington, D.C. to take on George Washington on Wednesday evening. The first ball between the Retrievers and Colonials is set for 7 p.m.
DAWG BITES
- This was the first meeting between UMBC and Central Michigan in volleyball
- The Retrievers are now 1-3 all-time against schools from Michigan (0-1 vs. Central Michigan; 1-0 vs. Eastern Michigan; 0-1 vs. Michigan; 0-1 vs. Western Michigan).
- Ali Goc recorded a total of 39 digs over the course of the weekend and leads the Retrievers with 96 digs on the year.
