UMBC

Head Coach Ian Blanchard

BALTIMORE – After traveling to Binghamton last weekend, the UMBC volleyball team opens the home portion of its America East schedule this weekend against New Hampshire and Providence.  The Retrievers take on the Wildcats on Friday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. before facing the Friars on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. with both contests taking place at the RAC. 

Live Stats will be available for both contests while Friday’s evening match against UNH can be seen live on UMBCRetrievers.tv.

Scouting the Retrievers

UMBC enters the weekend 7-11 overall and 0-1 in conference play after falling in straight sets to the Bearcats last Friday in Vestal, N.Y.  The Retrievers are now 5-5 all-time in America East openers and have lost their past three conference opening contests. 

Sophomore Hannah Schmidt (Catonsville, Md./Mount de Sales) was the only Retriever with double-digit kills (11) against Binghamton as UMBC was limited to just a .115 hitting efficiency.  The Bearcats held reigning conference Player and Rookie of the Week Sherelle Walker (New Freedom, Pa./Susquehannock) to just four kills, but the freshman still leads the squad and ranks fifth in the conference with 184 winners.

Junior Mallory McIntyre (Winnipeg, Manitoba/St. Mary’s Academy), who came back from a head injury to claim the America East Setter of the Week award a week ago, recorded 23 assists against Binghamton and now has a total of 180 helpers this season.

One of McIntyre’s most consistent targets has been middle Emily Witsaman (Medina, Ohio/Medina).  The junior has come on strong this season leading the conference with 1.20 blocks per set and placing eighth in the league with a .228 hitting percentage.  Witsaman has recorded two nine-block matches this season, both at the Pirate Invitational, to equal Walker’s effort at St. Francis (Pa.) as the Retrievers lead the league with a 2.07 blocks per set average.

In the back row, junior Ali Goc (Oshawa, Ontario/R.S. McLaughlin) leads the team with 214 digs and is sixth in the America East with a 3.19 digs per set average.  The veteran libero had picked up double-digit digs in four straight matches before recording only five at Binghamton.  Classmate Hallie Carter (Huntington Beach, Calif./Edison) scooped up a team-high eight digs in New York and is third on the team with 137 for the season.

Scouting the Wildcats

New Hampshire is 9-8 overall this season and 1-0 in conference play after sweeping Providence as well as in-state rival Dartmouth last weekend at home.  The wins give the Wildcats a four-match win streak dating back to a win over Princeton at the George Washington Invitational on Sept. 15. 

New Hampshire gained two out of the three weekly conference awards this past Monday as junior Morgan Thatcher was named the conference Player of the Week and freshman Brenna Buckwalter earned Rookie of the Week honors.  Buckwalter led the squad with a total of 29 kills over the course of the weekend while registering a double-double against Providence (14 kills, 14 digs).  Buckwalter, meanwhile, totaled 16 kills in the two matches, including a 10 kill effort against the Friars.

For the season, Buckwalter paces UNH with 234 kills, while Victoria Forrest, Destiny Tolliver and Abigail Brinkman have also eclipsed the 100-kill plateau.  Senior Jessie Schnepp is the leader of the back row and leads the conference with 339 digs for an average of 5.06 per set.

All-Time Series vs. New Hampshire

The Retrievers and Wildcats are tied at nine wins apiece through the first 18 all-time meetings.  The two squads have split the three season-series each of the past three years after UMBC swept both meeting in 2009.

Last year each squad won on its home court with New Hampshire claiming the first contest in four sets before UMBC returned the favor with a 3-0 sweep at the RAC in November.

Scouting the Friars

Heading into the weekend, Providence is 1-17 and has lost 13 consecutive matches, including its conference opener at New Hampshire last Saturday.  The Friars’ only win this season came on the road in a 3-1 victory at St. Peter’s.

Despite the team’s struggles, sophomore Anna Russian is putting together a strong season for the Friars, ranking second in the America East in both hitting percentage (.258) and service aces (0.37 per set).  In addition, senior Cassie Muzzonigro is once again steady on the back line and is third in the conference averaging 4.19 digs per set.

 All-Time Series vs. Providence

UMBC and Providence first met back in 1989 with the Friars winning on back-to-back days at the Delaware Tournament.  Since then the Retrievers have not lost in the series and now own a 7-2 all-time record.  Since Providence joined the America East as an associate member in 2010, UMBC has swept both season series.

A year ago the Retrievers swept the match in Baltimore and then hung on for a five-set victory in Rhode Island to clinch a spot in the America East Tournament.  Now graduated senior Iman Kennedy recorded 21 kills while classmate Allie Spaay handed out 67 assists in the win for UMBC.

Retriever Stat Pack

Season Highs:

Double-Doubles: