The UMBC volleyball team faces a pair of America East Conference matches this weekend, traveling to Newark, N.J., to face NJIT on Friday, Oct. 8 before returning home to welcome New Hampshire on Sunday, Oct. 10. Friday's match gets underway at 7:00 p.m., while Sunday's contest at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena starts at 1:00 p.m.

Both matches will be streamed on the America East digital network.

RETRIEVER REVIEW

• UMBC (8-10, 3-0 America East) has won three straight matches and is the lone undefeated team in America East early season play. They defeated UNH, 3-1, and Hartford, 3-0, on the road last weekend.

·         The Retrievers lead America East in blocks (2.3) and digs (16.4) per set.

·         Sophomore Beste Ayhan (Istanbul, Turkey) is ranked third in the nation in total blocks with 86.She is second in the America East Conference in hitting percentage at .324.

·         Freshman Mia Bilusic (Zagreb, Croatia) is second in the conference with 3.32 kills per set. She has averaged 4.88 kills per set in UMBC's recent 5-2 surge.

·         Loren Teter (Redondo Beach, Calif.) is second in the league with 4.45 digs per set.  

HONORED

·         On Oct. 5, Bilusic was named America East Rookie of the Week, while junior Andjelija Draskovic (Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia) was named Setter of the Week and Teter took home her league-high third Defensive Specialist of the Week award.

·         Bilusic averaged 4.0 kills per set in UMBC's two wins and also recorded 15 digs and four blocks in two matches combined. Draskovic averaged 12.29 assists per set and had a pair of double-doubles, including 51 assists and 15 digs in the road win over UNH. Teter averaged 5.86 digs per set in wins over UNH and Hartford. She had 24 digs against the Wildcats and 17 against the Hawks.

A GLANCE AT THE HIGHLANDERS/ALL-TIME SERIES  

·         NJIT won its opener over St. Peter's, but have dropped 14 consecutive matches.  

·         The Highlanders are 0-2 in America East, but opened with a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to an improved Binghamton squad. NJIT took a 2-1 lead, but dropped the fourth set and lost, 15-13, in the decider. UNH blanked NJIT, 3-0, on Oct. 3.

·         Junior Courtney Branch is third in America East with 1.08 blocks per set. Sophomore Elley Torres tops the NJIT kills' chart with 2.21 per set and is ranked ninth in the conference.

·         In the first meetings between UMBC and NJIT in the spring, the Retrievers came away with a pair of 3-1 victories in Newark.

A GLANCE AT THE WILDCATS/ALL-TIME SERIES  

·         The two squads just met on Oct. 1 and the Retrievers pulled off a 3-1 victory in Durham.  

·         Grace Rigsbee led the offense with 16 kills, and Draskovic averaged nearly 13 assists per set in the victory.

·         UNH bounced back to sweep NJIT, 3-0, on Oct. 3 to improve to 9-7 and 2-1 in conference play. The Wildcats hit a blazing .325 in the match.

·         Senior middle blocker Abby Sullivan leads the conference in hitting percentage at .331, while junior setter Wren Macauley leads America East with 25 service aces and is second in assists per set at 9.07.  

·         UNH leads the all-time series, 26-14, but UMBC has won three of the past four contests.

UP NEXT

UMBC completes the three-game homestand by welcoming Binghamton (Fri., Oct. 15) and NJIT (Sun., Oct. 17) to the Chesapeake Arena next weekend.