University Park, Pa. -- The UMBC volleyball team dropped the opening match of the 2018 season to Navy in three sets on Friday night. The match was the first game of the Penn State Classic hosted by the sixth-ranked Nittany Lions.

Freshman Paige Krenik (Foothill Ranch, Calif.) had a team-best 10 kills, including seven of them in the final set. Carmen Freeman (Memphis, Tenn.) narrowly missed a double-double, finishing with nine kills and a team-high 10 digs. Krytsia Negrón (San Juan, Puerto Rico) finished with 26 assists while libero Kristin Watson (Bowie, MD) finished with seven digs and three assists.

Navy hit .367 whole holding the Retrievers to -.029, as the Mids took the first set 25-13. Navy broke open a tight second set with a 9-0 run and again held UMBC to a negative hitting percentage (-.049) en route to a 25-17 victory. The Retrievers jumped out to an early 3-1 lead in the third set, but the Mids answered with five straight points. UMBC fought back and eventually tied the game at 12. The teams then alternated points until Navy went on a 6-0 run to go up 22-16, and eventually took the final set 25-19 to take the match.

The Retrievers face No.6 Penn State at 10 am tomorrow followed by a 4 pm match against Eastern Kentucky.