Washington D.C. – Freshman Makenzie Morgen (Appleton, Wisc./ Appleton East) had seven kills and seven digs, while junior Zoya Trendafilova (Sofia, Bulgaria / Elisaveta Bagryana) tallied six kills of her own, but it was not enough as the UMBC Volleyball team dropped a 3-0 decision to Virginia in the first match of the AU Volleyball Classic at American University on Friday afternoon.

Virginia (6-3) jumped out to a quick lead in the first set, scoring three of the first four points. UMBC (6-5), however, would battle back and cut it to one, twice, but could not get any closer than that as the Cavaliers went on a big run and took the set 25-11. Trendafilova and Sherelle Walker (New Freedom, Pa / Susquehannock) each had two kills in the set for the Retrievers.

The second set saw more dominance from Virginia as would go up early, UMBC would tie it at three, but the Cavaliers went on another big run. The Retrievers would battle back to get it to a 21-15 deficit, but Virginia would take the last four points and win 25-15. Trendafilova once again paced UMBC with three kills and added two digs.

UMBC jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the third set behind some stellar defense, but the Cavaliers would respond by taking seven of the next nine points and never looked back, taking the set 25-16. The Retrievers return to action tomorrow at American when the face the host Eagles at 11 am before taking on William & Mary at 4:30.