The UMBC volleyball squad (16-11, 11-0 America East) plays its final regular season match on Friday, Nov. 12 when the Retrievers travel to Long Island to take on Stony Brook (13-12, 7-4). The match gets underway at Pritchard Gymnasium at 6:00 p.m.

Fans can always follow the Retrievers on their Twitter site @umbcvolleyball and the match will be broadcast on ESPN+.

For the first time in UMBC's 19-year with the America East Conference, the Retrievers captured the outright regular season title and earned the right to host the league championships. The top-seeded UMBC squad will face either Stony Brook, UAlbany or New Hampshire in the first semi-final match on Friday, Nov. 19 at 4:00 p.m. The championship match will be played at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets are available now at https://umbctickets.universitytickets.com/.

HONORED
·       For the second time this season, freshman Mia Bilusic (Zagreb, Croatia) swept America East Player and Rookie of the Week honors, while junior setter Andjelija Draskovic (Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia) was named America East Setter of the Week for a league-best fifth time.
 
·       Bilusic averaged 4.86 kills per set in two matches, and tied a career-high with 23 kills on .353 hitting in a four-set win over UAlbany on Sunday. Overall, she averaged 17 kills, 10.5 digs and 2 blocks in the two matches, with a pair of double-doubles en route to her fourth Rookie of the Week nod.
 
·       Draskovic averaged 12.14 assists per set including 53 against the Great Danes. UMBC hit .421 on her sets in the team's eleventh league win..
 
·       Graduate student Loren Teter (Redondo Beach, Calif.) has earned the league's Defensive Specialist of the Week on five occasions this fall.  
 
RETRIEVER REVIEW
·       Bilusic added 11 digs in the four-set (25-19, 25-17, 23-25, 25-22) win over UAlbany on Sunday afternoon. UMBC also had a big game from sophomore Aysia Miller (Mililani, Hawaii), who finished with 13 kills, 15 digs and three blocks.
 
·       UMBC finished the regular season with a 8-2 record at Chesapeake Arena.
 
·       Earlier in the week, the Retrievers fell for the first time since Sept. 20, dropping a 3-0 decision to host Delaware on Nov. 4. The Retrievers had won ten straight matches, one shy of tying a school record.
 
·       UMBC has won 33 sets in America East play and dropped only 6.
 
NOTES AND STATS

• The ten-match winning streak for UMBC was their longest since a school-record 11-match surge in 2000.

·       The ten-match streak tied the mark of the 1998 squad, which hit the double digit mark in consecutive wins. The 2000 and 1996 teams each share the school record with 11 consecutive match victories.
 
·       UMBC is hoping to become the sixth team in America East history to record an undefeated regular season. Stony Brook posted a 12-0 mark just three seasons ago (2018) and UAlbany recorded back-to-back undefeated campaigns in 2008 and 2009.
 
·       UMBC leads America East in opponent hitting percentage (.160) and digs per set (16.6).
 
·       Bilusic has raced up to second place in kills per set in America East with 3.61. Draskovic has taken a similar course and is now second in assists per set at 9.42.
 
·       Entering play this week, sophomore Beste Ayhan (Istanbul, Turkey) was tied for 12th nationally with 122 blocks.
 
·       Teter stands second in the conference with 4.6 digs per set.
 
A GLANCE AT STONY BROOK  
·       The Seawolves have clinched a spot in the four-team America East Tournament, but are just 2-2 over their last four matches.
 
·       SBU dropped a 3-0 decision to rival UAlbany on Nov. 5 before sweeping NJIT two days later.
 
·       Sophomore setter Torri Henry leads the conference with 9.93 assists and 0.41 service aces per set. Sophomore middle blocker Abby Campbell is third in America East with a .317 hitting percentage and junior middle blocker Enitan Omolewa is fifth at .294.
 
·       Stony Brook leads the conference in hitting percentage (.218) and assists per set (11.85)
 
·       This will be the 38th meeting between the Retrievers and Seawolves. UMBC has won four straight, but SBU holds a narrow 20-17 series lead. In the spring, UMBC won a pair of five-set matches in Pritchard Gymnasium.
 
·       UMBC and Stony Brook met in the opener of America East play and the Retrievers came away with a four-set win at Chesapeake Arena on Sept. 25. Bilusic posted her first 23-kill match of the season to lead the Retrievers. UMBC rallied from a 17-8 deficit in the pivotal third set to win, 25-21, and eventually take the match.