Baltimore, Md. -- Despite starting five new players in its first match in 462 days, the UMBC Volleyball team showed poise as it defeated a veteran Coppin State team in three, tightly-contested, sets on Sunday afternoon. 

UMBC (1-0) started four freshmen and only had a combined seven seasons of experience on the court to start the match, with six of those seasons coming from junior outside hitter Paige Krenik (Foothill Ranch, Calif.) and graduate student libero Loren Teter (Redondo Beach, Calif.). Sophomore Emily Ferketic (Pittsburgh, Pa.) was the only other player with experience after seeing significant action last season. 

Krenik had one of the best matches of her career, collecting 11 kills on .333 hitting and 11 digs. Her biggest contribution came late in the second set. After Coppin State (1-3) scored four straight points to tie the set at 18, a Kumanova kill gave UMBC the lead back and then Krenik picked up back-to-back kills to push the lead to 21-18. The Eagles responded with three straight to tie the match back up, but Krenik responded with her third straight kill to give the Retrievers the lead back again. Coppin once again answered, this time taking a 23-22 lead, but Krenik's fourth straight kill tied it back up. After Ferketic and freshman Beste Ayhan (Istanbul, Turkey) teamed up for a block to give the Retrievers set point, Krenik would lay down the set-winning kill to put UMBC up 2-0 in the match.

Freshman Darina Kumanova (Plovdiv, Bulgaria) paced the Retriever offense with 15 kills, while adding 12 digs and two blocks on defense. Classmate Aysia Miller (Mililani, Hawaii) had a debut for the record books, finishing with 40 assists with the team hitting .417 on her sets, and she also added six digs. 

Teter, who led San Diego State in digs and digs per set last season, played standout defense, finishing with 23 digs, four assists and three aces. Ferketic filled the stat sheet, compiling nine kills, four blocks, five digs and an ace. 

The first set was a back-and-forth affair as the teams had 13 ties and six lead changes. The Eagles had a 20-19 lead, but UMBC would rattle off three straight thanks to a kill by Ayhan, a Coppin attack error and a shared block by Ferketic and freshman Michela De Marzi (Milan, Italy). Coppin responded with points bookended around a De Marzi kill to make 23-22 UMBC. However, Miller would pick up her first career kill and Kumanova would add a kill of her own to give the Retrievers the first set, 25-22.

UMBC led wire-to-wire in the third set, jumping out to a 6-0 lead and never allowing the Eagles to get closer than two points the rest of the way. The Retrievers hit .355 and committed just two errors in the third set. 

UMBC now begins America East play next weekend when the team travels to Long Island to face Stony Brook (0-3) for a pair of matches. The Retrievers and Seawolves will play at 6 p.m. on Saturda and conclude the series at 11 a.m. on Sunday.