Towson, Md. -- Paola Rojas (San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico) continued her torrid play, finishing with a game-high 19 kills on .406 hitting, but the UMBC Volleyball team fell in five sets (17-25, 25-22, 22-25, 25-22, 15-8) to La Salle (8-5) on Saturday morning before again battling in a five set loss to host Towson (25-16, 24-26, 25-27, 29-27, 15-6) later  in the day. Due to various injuries, the Retrievers were only able to dress 10 players in both matches.

UMBC (3-9) once again recieved a double-double from Carmen Freeman (Memphis, Tenn.), as the sophomore finished with 16 kills and 13 digs. Freshman Jamie Wood (Satellite Beach, Fla.) made her second straight start and picked up seven kills and tallied career-highs in digs (eight), blocks (four) and aces (two). Gabrielle Curran (Naples, Fla.) finished with 10 digs and four kills, while her frshman classmate Paige Krenik (Foothill Ranch, Calif.) also earned four kills.

Franchesca Reed (Aurora, Colo.) also finished with a career high five digs to go with her seven kills and four blocks. Senior setter Krytsia Negrón tallied 47 assists and seven digs in the match.

In the nightcap, Towson (5-8) and UMBC played three incredibly tight sets before the Tigers pulled away in the fifth. Freeman led the match with 18 kills and chipped in 12 digs and four blocks, while Krenik added 14 kills and Rojas tallied 12 kills and seven blocks. Wood reset her career high in kills with 11 while Reed added six kills, four digs and four blocks. Negrón finished with a season-high 54 assists and classmate Kristin Watson (Bowie, Md.) added 20 digs. Taylor Alexander (Detroit, Mich.) and Curran each contributed defensively, with nine and seven digs, respectively. 

The Retrievers travel to Washington, D.C. on Tuesday for a 7 pm match at Howard. The Bison are the three-time defending MEAC champions and became the first team in 28 years to take an NCAA tournament opening round set from No.1 Penn State last season.