BALTIMORE – The UMBC volleyball team defeated visiting Hartford, 3-1, to wrap up the America East Conference regular season title and earn the right to host the league championships in three weeks.

UMBC (15-10, 10-0) won its tenth consecutive match, tying a mark for the third-longest winning streak in school history.

The Retrievers triumphed, 25-17, 22-25, 25-19, 25-14, capturing their first outright regular season volleyball championship in 19 America East seasons. UMBC is the defending league tournament champions after sharing the regular season title with UAlbany in the spring.   

"It has been a challenging journey, but these women show up every day and keep pushing, battling and having each other's backs," said head coach Cristina Robertson. "There's a lot of season left and there's a lot of work to do, but we could not be any more proud of them."

Two Retrievers etched their names into the school record books on the night. Graduate student libero Loren Teter (Redondo Beach, Calif.) produced 32 digs, just one shy of her career high and the sixth-most in a match in school history. Junior setter Andjelija Draskovic (Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia) dished out 56 assists on the Retrievers' 69 kills, the ninth-most assists by a Retriever.

Freshman outside hitter Mia Bilusic (Zagreb, Croatia) led all players with 20 kills, but she had plenty of help as three other Retrievers posted double figures in kills. Graduate student Grace Rigsbee (Suwanee, Ga.) contributed 15, while sophomore Aysia Miller (Mililani, Hawaii) and freshman Mila Ilieva (Vidin, Bulgaria) totaled 11 apiece.

Draskovic (14 digs), Bilusic (13 digs) and Miller (18 digs) all posted double-doubles.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• UMBC led set one, 18-16, when Ilieva and Bilusic led a game-ending 7-1 run with a pair of kills apiece.
• The Hawks bounced back and built a 15-9, but an 11-4 Retriever response gave the hosts a 20-19 lead. With the score tied at 21-all, UH's Maddie Lindsay produced back-to-back kills and the Hawks prevailed, 25-22.
• In a see-saw third set, UMBC charged in front, 14-8, but a 7-0 Hawk run gave the visitors a 15-14 advantage. Then Rigsbee produced three consecutive kills in a 4-0 run to provide the Retrievers with the lead for good.
• Miller put away a set-high five kills in the fourth set, including a pair in a 6-0 run which extended a 12-9 lead to 18-9. She then blasted down the match's final point, setting off an on-court celebration.

UMBC faces Delaware on the road on Thursday, Nov. 4, before playing its final regular season home match versus UAlbany on Sunday, Nov. 7.