The UMBC Volleyball team begins its first season under head coach Kasey Crider on Thursday in the Cardinal and Gold Classic in Los Angeles.

The Retrievers face Villanova at 8 p.m. EST on Friday, followed by a 1:30 p.m. EST matchup with host USC the next day before closing weekend play against defending Patriot League champion Colgate later that night at 8 p.m. EST. 

UMBC is coming-off a 19-12 season in 2021 in which it went a perfect 12-0 in America East play and won its second-straight America East title.

The Retrievers were voted as the favorites atop the 2022 America East Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll. 
 
The coaches' poll, which was announced two weeks ago, was voted on by the league's head coaches, who could not vote for their own team.
 
UMBC received four out of five possible first-place votes and 23 points. They were followed closely by 2021 runner up UAlbany in second with 19 points. Newcomer Bryant and UNH tied for third with 17 points and each earned a first-place vote
Crider's squad will be led by sophomore Mia Bilusic (Zagreb, Croatia), last year's America East Rookie of the Year and a first-team All-Conference selection. She totaled a league-best 408 kills last year (3.74 kps).
Junior Aysia Miller (Mililani, Hawaii) continues to show her versatility, the Spring 2021 America East Setter of the Year, shifted to starting outside hitter early last season and eventually earned a spot on the America East All-Championship Team after picking up a pair of career-highs with 17 kills and 24 dig in the America East Semifinal. This season, Miller will move to starting libero for UMBC.

All-Rookie selection Mila Ilieva (Vidin, Bulgaria) returns to the middle, as does Spring 2021 America East All-Championship Team honoree Michela De Marzi (Milan, Italy), who missed all of last season due to injury,

Seniors Kayla Tomas (Silver Spring, Md.), Kamani Conteh (New Castle, Del.), Emily Ferketic (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Weronika Wrzesinska (Frednowy, Poland)  are all regular contributors who return as well. 
 
In June, Crider announced a four-person incoming class for the Fall 2022 season on Friday afternoon.

The class includes: Bird Alford (Tallahassee, Fla.), Emily Genau (Gaithersburg, Md.), Serin Maden (Ankara, Turkey) and Laila Wooldridge (Coral Springs, Fla.).

"I'm thrilled to invite these four women into our program," said Crider. "The class was put together on short notice, and we were able to get two excellent setters, an opposite with some positional versatility, and a very physical middle. They'll make our level of play better, but most importantly, they'll continue the tradition of great character that defines our culture."

Scouting Villanova

The Wildcats posted a 15-15 mark in 2021 and finished at 7-11 in Big East play. They dropped five of the final six matches of the campaign.  Outside hitter Riley Homer was unanimously named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team and Villanova is projected to finish sixth in the Preseason Coaches' Poll.

Homer finished eleventh in the BIG EAST in kills per set (2.90) last season while recording 21 double-digit kill performances in 2021.

The Wildcats lead the all-time series with UMBC, 13-3, and have captured the last five matches. UMBC's last win occurred at the RAC in November of 2000.

Scouting Colgate

The Raiders joined the Retrievers in the 2021 NCAA Tournament after capturing the Patriot League title. Colgate posted an 18-10 overall mark and a 13-3 record during the conference season.

Anchoring Colgate's long list of returners, back-to-back Patriot League Setter of the Year Julia Kurowski is back for her graduate year of eligibility. Kurowski was joined by Libby Overmyer on the Preseason All-League Team. Overmyer, a junior outside hitter, is coming off All-Patriot

League First Team honors after leading the team in points per set (3.52) and kills (312).

The Retrievers have swept the previous two meetings versus Colgate. They won a home encounter in 1994 and triumphed in Hamilton, N.Y. in 2006.

Scouting USC

USC played .500 volleyball overall (15-15) and in Pac-12 competition (10-10) in 2021. They finished the year on a high note, knocking off No. 13 UCLA in five sets.

Under second-year head coach Brad Keller, the Trojans signed the nation's top-ranked incoming class of recruits according to PrepVolleyball.com. 

UMBC and USC did compete in the 1998 NCAA Tournament in Los Angeles. The Trojans swept the NEC Champions to end the Retrievers' season at 22-7.