The UMBC volleyball squad (10-10, 5-0 America East) extended their winning streak to five with wins over NJIT and UNH last weekend and continue the three-game homestand when Binghamton and the aforementioned NJIT squad visit Chesapeake Arena this weekend. UMBC takes on the Bearcats at 7:00 p.m. on Friday and the Highlanders at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday.
Both matches will be broadcast on the America East digital network.
RETRIEVER REVIEW
· The Retrievers jumped out to big leads in each of the first two sets, and once again used a suffocating defense en route to a sweep (25-11, 25-13, 25-19) of visiting New Hampshire on Sunday afternoon.
· Freshman Mia Bilusic (Zagreb, Croatia) finished with am match-best 13 kills, and added six digs and 3 blocks. Graduate student Grace Rigsbee(Suwanee, Ga.) had 12 kills on .429 hitting with three digs and two blocks. Juinor setter Andjelija Draskovic (Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia) finished with 31 assists, 8 digs and a block, while sophomore Aysia Miller (Mililani, Hawaii) had eight kills on .375 with seven digs and three assists.
HONORED
· For the second-straight week, Draskovic was named America East Setter of the Week, while graduate student Loren Teter (Redondo Beach, Calif.,) earned a league-best fourth Defensive Specialist of the Week award.
· Draskovic averaged 9.67 assists per set as UMBC hit .388 on her sets in a pair of straight-set wins over NJIT and UNH. These are the first two America East honors of her career.
· Teter anchored a defense that held both opponents to a negative hitting percentage, and she averaged 4.17 digs per set, helping Retrievers stretch their win streak to five. This is her league-high fourth America East Defensive Specialist of the Week this season and the fifth of her career.
STAT LEADERS
· UMBC leads America East in opponent hitting percentage (.173), blocks per set (2.32) and digs per set (16.2).
· Bilusic has raced up to second place in kills per set in America East with 3.37.
· Sophomore Beste Ayhan (Istanbul, Turkey) leads the conference with 1.31 blocks per set and in hitting percentage at .336. She's also fourth in the nation in total blocks with 94.
· Teter stands second in the conference with 4.43 digs per set.
A GLANCE AT BINGHAMTON
· The Bearcats are 6-10 this season and have opened America East competition by splitting four matches. After opening league play with 3-2 wins over NJIT and UAlbany, they have falledn to Stony Brook, 3-0, and Hartford, 3-1.
· Binghamton prevailed, 16-14, in the fifth set to stun UAlbany in West Gym on Sept. 26. Sophomore Stefana Stan registered 15 kills and junior Anna Sprys added 12 blocks to lead the upset.
· Opposing blockers have had little success versus the Bearcats, as they lead the conference with 1.58 opponent blocks per set.
· Stan is fifth in America East with 2.93 kills per set, while Sprys is sixth, hitting .284.
· The Retrievers are looking to knot the series with Binghamton at 21-21. UMBC has won the last five matches, and the last four have been 3-0 sweeps.
A GLANCE AT NJIT
· NJIT (1-16, 0-4 America East) took a set off of UAlbany, but dropped their 16th consecutive match to the Great Danes on Sunday. Junior Juliana Impaglia recorded 28 assists in the four sets.
· Two evenings earlier, the Retrievers swept the Highlanders, 25-16, 25-11, 25-14. Draskovic amassed 27 assists and added a team-best 11 digs.
· NJIT is third in America East with 2.09 blocks per set. Junior MB Courtney Branch is just behind Ayhan in second place with 1.09 blocks per set.
· UMBC is now 3-0 versus NJIT.
UP NEXT
UMBC makes its first of two trips into New York next weekend as they face UAlbany on Friday, Oct. 22 (7:00 p.m) and Binghamton on Sunday, Oct. 24 (1:00 p.m.).
