The four-time defending America East champion UMBC Volleyball has earned a regional three seed and will play No.8 seed Southern California on Friday at 4 p.m. in Pittsburgh.

The winner will play the winner of No.1 seed Pitt (the No.4 overall seed in the tournament) and Coppin State

The match will be at 4 p.m. on Friday at the Petersen Events Center

This will be the Retrievers fourth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance and fifth overall (1998). 

The Retrievers swept through the America East tournament, not allowing a single opponent over 19 points in all six sets. 

Mila Ilieva had nine kills on nine attacks to hit a perfect 1.000 to lead No.1 Seed UMBC to a sweep of No.3 Binghamton (25-19, 25-16, 25-18) last Saturday night in front of a boisterous 1,043 fans at The Peake.

Ilieva, who also added a pair of blocks, was named the Championship's Most Outstanding Player for the second consecutive season. Mia Bilusic and Julija Grubisic Cabo also had standout performances to earn spots on the All-Championship Team

Bilusic had 13 kills on .286 hitting with three digs, two aces and a perfect seven-for-seven on serve receive. Grubisic Cabo was sensational as she filled the stat sheet with 11 kills (.259 hitting), eight digs, two blocks and was 11-for-11 on serve receive. 

The Retrievers hit a blistering .350 in the match, as Kamani Conteh had 10 kills on .350 hitting on her own, while adding four blocks.

Libero of the Year Hannah Howard continued to shine, tallying 21 digs and two assists while going 30-for-30 on serve receive.

Michela De Marzi and Emily Ferketic each had four kills, with De Marzi adding a match-high five blocks.

Serin Maden had 25 assists while Aysia Miller tallied 21 of her own. 

UMBC (17-7) held an astounding 51-29 advantage in kills and won the dig battle 42-31.

Scouting USC:

• Under fourth-year head coach Brad Keller, USC finished in fifth place in the Pac-12 with a 12-8 record in league contests.
• The Trojans are led by two-time All-American Sr. OH Skylar Fields, the Pac-12's leader in kills and points.
• The Women of Troy make their second consecutive appearance in the postseason tournament; the program's 39th overall. The Trojans own three NCAA titles (1981, 2002, '03) and are 128-42 (.753) all-time in the postseason with an 82-35 (.701) mark in NCAA tournament matches. USC is the winner of six national championships including the three NCAA crowns. The Women of Troy won back-to-back championships under Mick Haley in 2002 and 2003 and are the holders of three AIAW titles (1976, '77, '80) under the guidance of Chuck Erbe. USC has appeared in all but four of the NCAA's 43 annual championship tournaments (1986, 1990, 2020-21, 2021).
• Since the NCAA expanded to a field of 64 teams in 1998, USC has advanced to 12 regional championship matches, seven national semifinals (final four), and two national finals (both victories). Last year, the Women of Troy defeated High Point in the first round of the tournament at the Columbus site hosted by Ohio State but fell to the Buckeyes in the second round.