Blacksburg, Va -- The UMBC Volleyball team fought valiantly, but ultimately fell in three sets (25-21, 25-17, 25-12) at ACC program Virginia Tech (3-0) on Saturday night. The Retrievers (2-1) were coming off a wild five-set victory over St.Francis Brooklyn just a few hours earlier in nearby Radford.

"I like the way we fought throughout the tournament, including tonight. Playing in five sets earlier, plus the heat in the arena drained us, but we fought our tails off," Head coach Ian Blanchard said. "We passed well, and saw that when we are in our system, we can do some really fun things with our offense. We are going to get better every day. This is a hard-working group of young women who enjoy competing in practice and matches. They enjoy and pick each other up."

Junior Abbie Mirabella (Hockessin, Del./St.Mark's) tallied 11 kills to go along with eight digs and was named to the All-Tournament team. Sophomore setters Claudia Lopez (Guaynabo/Academia Maria Reina) and Krytsia Negron (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Colegio Adianez) each had 13 assists, while senior Zoya Trendafilova (Sofia, Bulgaria/Elisaveta Bagryana) notched six kills.

Red-shirt freshman Emily Panchak (Wilmington, Del./Concord/Wichita State) was solid all-around, finishing with three kills, four digs, three blocks and an assist. Sophomore libero Carola De Jesus (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Academia Maria Reina) had a team-high nine digs to go with three assists and an ace.

The Retrievers next play on Tuesday night, when they travel to Washington D.C. to face defending MEAC champion Howard at 7 p.m.