Vestal, N.Y. -- The second-seeded UMBC Volleyball team captured a third-straight America East crown with a dominant sweep of fourth-seeded New Hampshire (25-22, 25-19, 25-18) on Sunday afternoon at Binghamton University's West Gymnasium.
Mila Ilieva (Vidin, Bulgaria) was named the championship's Most Outstanding Player after another flawless performance. The sophomore middle blocker had nine kills on .563 hitting with no errors and seven blocks in the title match, after tallying 11 kills on .500 hitting (two errors) and seven blocks in the semifinal win over Bryant on Saturday.
Aysia Miller (Mililani, Hawaii) had 11 digs and six assists to earn a spot on the All-Championship team, and was joined on the team by
Kamani Conteh (New Castle, Del.) who tallied ten kills and five blocks in the victory.
Mia Bilusic (Zagreb, Croatia) led all players with 12 kills, while
Weronika Wrzesinska (Frednowy, Poland) had five kills, five blocks, three aces and a team-high 14 digs.
The freshman setter tandem of
Serin Maden (Ankara, Turkey) and
Bird Alford (Tallahassee, Fla) finished with 18 and 12 assists respectively.  Maden contributed nine digs, while Alford added four.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- UMBC (17-8, 7-3 AE)) jumped out to a massive 11-1 lead in the first set, but UNH (19-10, 6-4 AE) chipped away, eventually cutting the deficit to 21-20.
- Emily Ferketic (Pittsburgh, Pa.) would get a kill to push the lead back to two, but the Wildcats answered right back, as the teams alternated the next three points.
- Conteh would get a kill to give the Retrievers set point, and Wrzesinska would complete the first set win with an ace
- The second set was tight as the teams traded the lead frequently, but UMBC would go on a pivotal run late
- The Retrievers led 20-19 before Conteh got two straight kills and then teamed up with Michela De Marzi (Milan, Italy) on a block to give UMBC a sudden 23-19 advantage.
- After a bad set by UNH gave UMBC set point, Conteh and De marzi again teamed up for a block to give UMBC the set and a 2-0 lead.
- The third set was another tight one until a late run by the Retrievers
- With the score tied at 17, a service error by the Wildcats would kick-start a 7-0 UMBC rally that essentially put the match away.
- Conteh would get a kill and then team up with Ilieva for a block to make it 20-17. A UNH error would make it 21-17 and force them to call timeout.
- The timeout didn't slow down the Retrievers as Ilieva had a kill and then assisted on a block with Wrzesinska. Conteh then would follow with a kill to give the Retrievers championship point
- The Wildcats kept the match alive with a kill, but Ilieva laid down a thunderous kill on the following serve receive to give UMBC the titleÂ
The NCAA Selection Show will be next Sunday, November 27, at 7:30 p.m. on ESPNU.
Â
