Video Highlights

Stony Brook, N.Y. -- A trio of freshmen had huge nights on offense to help rally the UMBC Volleyball team from two sets down to defeat host Stony Brook in five sets (22-25, 19-25, 26-24, 25-20, 15-13) on Saturday night in the America East opener for both teams. 

Reigning America East Setter of the Week Aysia Miller (Mililani, Hawaii) set a freshman school record with 55 assists, with the team hitting .417 on her sets. She also had an ace, a kill and added 10 digs for her first career double-double.

Defending America East Rookie of the Week Darina Kumanova (Plovdiv, Bulgaria) had another huge match, recording her second-straight double-double with 23 kills (.250 hitting) and 18 digs. The outside hitter also added two assists and a block in the comeback effort. 

Freshman middle blocker Michela De Marzi (Milan, Italy) had the best match of her young career, finishing with 15 kills on .560 hitting and a block. De Marzi's final two kills capped a 3-0 run to end the match for UMBC (2-0, 1-0 AE).

Junior Paige Krenik (Foothill Ranch, Calif.) had her second straight match with exactly 11 kills and 11 digs. Anouk Van Noord (Amsterdam, Netherlands) came on in the fourth set for her first action of the season and had a block and four kills on a perfect 1.000 hitting percentage, with three of her kills coming in the final set. 

Graduate student libero Loren Teter (Redondo Beach, Calif.) tied Kumanova for the match-high in digs with 18. Freshman Beste Ayhan (Istanbul, Turkey) finished with career-bests in kills (six) and blocks (four). Sophomore Emily Ferktic (Pittsburgh, Pa.) started the match and tallied three kills and three digs.

The third set was a wild one, as there were nine ties and four lead changes. After Stony Brook (0-4, 0-1 AE) took the first two sets, UMBC jumped out to a 12-4 lead in the third. The Seawolves would respond, however, tying the set at 15 and eventually taking an 18-17 lead. After an Kumanova kill tied it at 18, the teams alternated two point runs until the Retrievers called timeout trailing 22-20. SBU would win the next three points, before a Teter ace tied the set at 23. A block then gave the Seawolves match point, but De Marzi got a kill to tie it and then two straight attack errors by SBU gave UMBC the set, 26-24.

This time, it was Stony Brook who got off to a hot start in the fourth set, taking a quick 5-2 lead. The Retrievers fought back, eventually using a 5-0 run to take a 10-7 lead. The lead grew to 14-9 and then 19-12, before SBU chipped away until it was just a 20-18 UMBC lead. However, the Retrievers would then score five of the final seven points, capped by a Kumanova kill, to take the fourth set, 25-20.

The fifth set was tight, as neither team would lead by more than two points at an point, and there were nine ties and four lead changes. UMBC took an 8-6 lead midway through the fifth when Krenik and Ayhan teamed up for a block, but SBU would respond with four straight points to go up 10-8. Miller then got her lone kill of the match to make it 10-9, but Stony Brook answered right back to make it 11-9. After a Seawolves serving error, De Marzi and Van Noord had back-to-back kills to put the Retrievers up 12-11. SBU tied it right back up, but Van Noord had her fourth and final kill of the match to make it 13-12 UMBC and for the hosts to take a timeout. A service error tied it back up, but De Marzi had back-to-back kills to complete the comeback.

The two teams will complete the weekend series tomorrow at 11 a.m.