The UMBC Volleyball team concludes regular season play when it hosts NJIT (Friday, 6 p.m.) and UAlbany (Sunday, 1 p.m.) this weekend at The Peake.

Sunday will be Senior day, while Friday night will be Maui Wildfire Awareness match.

The initiative has been spearheaded by the program's own Aysia Miller, a born and raised Hawaiian.  

"I'm grateful to everyone involved in this match for allowing me to spread awareness about my home and community," said Miller. "With me being 4,850 miles away from home, I wanted to do anything I could to support the place I grew up in and its people. I take pride in being from Hawai'i and I want to represent the islands in anyway I possibly can."

Free Maui pink leis will be given out to the first 100 fans, and there will be in-game entertainment and videos dedicated to educating fans about Maui and Hawaiian culture.

Fans are encouraged to donate to the Hawai'i Community Foundation's Maui Strong Fund, a foundation supported by Miller.

UMBC freshman libero Hannah Howard was named the America East Co-Rookie of the Week, the Conference announced on Tuesday morning. It was Howard's third Rookie of the Week honor of the season and her fifth total as she has been named Defensive Specialist of the Week twice already this season. Howard helped UMBC go 6-1 in sets on the week, averaging 4 digs per set, and totaled 12 assists. In the win at Binghamton, she recorded 18 digs and helped hold the Bearcats to a .151 hitting percentage

Middles Michela De Marzi and Mila Ilieva combined for 21 kills with only one error and 15 blocks to rally the UMBC Volleyball team past host Binghamton in four sets (17-25, 25-22, 29-27, 25-16)last Sunday. De Marzi had a season best 13 kills on .571 hitting and the lone attack error from the duo, while Ilieva had 8 kills on .444 hitting.

Scouting NJIT:

• The Highlanders currently have a 9-16 overall record going 1-8 in conference with a three game losing streak.
• Adriana Goetz-Morales leads the Highlanders in kills with 229 and Juliana Impaglia has 417 assists.
• The NJIT women's volleyball team suffered a tough defeat in its final home match of the season last Sunday, falling in five sets to visiting Bryant at the Joel and Diane Bloom Wellness and Events Center.
• UMBC leads the all-time series, 10-0
• Mia Bilusic had 13 kills on .379 hitting as the visiting UMBC Volleyball team cruised to a sweep (25-13, 25-16, 25-19) over NJIT on 10/15
• The Retrievers defense was firing on all cylinders as they held the Highlanders to just .059 hitting for the match, including 0% hitting in each of the first two sets. No one on NJIT had more than six kills

Scouting UAlbany:

• The Great Danes currently have a 7-17 overall record and are 2-7 in America East play
• UAlbany is currently ranked fifth in the America East standings
• Shynelle Woroniuk leads the team in kills with 252
• Zosia Szczotkiewicz leads the team in assists with 638.
• Gabriella Karman has 65 blocks this season
• UAlbany leads the all-time series, 35-17
• The UMBC Volleyball team dropped its first America East contest of the year, falling in five sets (25-20, 25-22, 22-25, 13-25, 19-17) to host UAlbany on 10/8 at Russell Sage College.
• UMBC battled back after dropping the first two sets, and even fought off four match points in the fifth, but couldn't complete the comeback.